Abstract
Objective To explore the gait characteristics under single- and dual-task conditions and their relationships with the history of fall among community-dwelling elderly people, in order to provide a reference for the prevention of falls in this population. Methods From September 2015 to June 2016, we enrolled a convenience sample of 268 community-dwelling elderly people from 3 communities in Hefei city based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria of this study. Data were analyzed for 252 participants. According to history of fall, they were divided into non-fallers (134 cases), fallers A group (77 cases) and fallers B (41 cases). We used Demographic Questionnaire, Barthel Scale, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), handgrip strength test, Timed Up and Go Test (TUGT) and 10-meter walk test under single-task and dual-task conditions with IDEEA LifeGait to collect the demographic data, Barthel Index, mental status, handgrip strength, comprehensive mobility and balance ability, and gait parameters at usual speed and in dual-task walking of the three groups. Results The distribution of age, exercising status, level of fear of falling, Barthel Index, handgrip strength and results of TUGT differed significantly between the groups (P<0.05). Compared with 10-meter walk test under single-task conditions, during 10-meter walk test under dual-task conditions, all the participants showed slower speed, lower cadence, shorter step length, shorter stride length, weaker ground impact and weaker foot fall except pre-swing angle in fallers B (P<0.05). During the 10-meter walk test under single-task conditions, three groups displayed significant different speed, step length, stride length, degree of foot fall, and pre-swing angle(P<0.05), in particular, compared with non-fallers and fallers A, fallers B had significant slower speed, shorter step length, shorter stride length , weaker foot fall and smaller pre-swing angle (P<0.05). During the 10-meter walk test under dual-task conditions, three groups demonstrated obviously different step length, stride length, weaker ground impact and degree of foot fall (P<0.05), in particular, fallers B showed significant slower speed, shorter step length, weaker ground impact and weaker foot fall compared with other two groups (P<0.05). Conclusion The gait characteristics of community-dwelling elderly people during 10-meter walk test under single- and dual-task conditions were significantly different. During 10-meter walk test under dual-task conditions, those with a history of falls within the past year showed slower speed, shorter step length, weaker ground impuct and weaker foot fall. Therefore, we can conclude that gait parameters are helpful to recognize elderly people with a history of fall.关键词
步态/意外跌倒/老年人/社区Key words
Gait/Accidental falls/Aged/Community分类
医药卫生
