Article
Increased gait unsteadiness in community-dwelling elderly fallers,☆☆

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Abstract

Objective: To test the hypothesis that quantitative measures of gait unsteadiness are increased in community-dwelling elderly fallers.

Study Design: Retrospective, case-control study.

Setting: General community.

Participants: Thirty-five community-dwelling elderly subjects older than 70 years of age who were capable of ambulating independently for 6 minutes were categorized as fallers (age, 82.2 ± 4.9yrs [mean ± SD]; n = 18) and nonfallers (age, 76.5 ± 4.Oyrs; n = 17) based on history; 22 young (age, 24.6 ± 1.9yrs), healthy subjects also participated as a second reference group.

Main Outcome Measures: Stride-to-stride variability (standard deviation and coefficient of variation) of stride time, stance time, swing time, and percent stance time measured during a 6-minute walk.

Results: All measures of gait variability were significantly greater in the elderly fallers compared with both the elderly nonfallers and the young subjects (p < .0002). In contrast, walking speed of the elderly fallers was similar to that of the nonfallers. There were little or no differences in the variability measures of the elderly nonfallers compared with the young subjects.

Conclusions: Stride-to-stride temporal variations of gait are relatively unchanged in community-dwelling elderly nonfallers, but are significantly increased in elderly fallers. Quantitative measurement of gait unsteadiness may be useful in assessing fall risk in the elderly.

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    Supported in part by grant AG-08812 from the National Institute on Aging and from the G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Charitable Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Dr. Mitchell was supported by the Fleet Bank of Massachusetts, N. A., Trustee of Charles A. King Trust.

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    No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors or upon any organization with which the authors are associated.

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