Gait and Stepping as Factors in the Frequent Falls of Elderly Women

Azar, Gordon J.; Lawton, Alfred H.

doi:10.1093/geront/4.2_part_1.83

Cited by 19 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Varus deformities of the knees are more common in women than in men (6). The patient walks with a bowlegged waddling gait.…”

Section: Musculoskeletal Causes Of Gait Disordersmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Gait Disorders in the Aged*

Steinberg

1972

J American Geriatrics Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

: Since disorders of gait may eventually deprive the aged person of his independence, they should be detected early and treated before the disability becomes irreversible. In the healthy aged, changes in gait may be caused by loss of joint mobility and a decline in the precision of neuromuscular control. More serious gait disorders are caused by neurological or musculoskeletal disorders. Difficulty in walking may be the first manifestation of a stroke, parkinsonism, or a combined system disease. Other disorders such as the small‐step senile gait or apraxia of gait are directly related to the aging process. Lesions of the low back or the lower extremities are common causes of gait disturbances. Often overlooked is a deficiency in the low‐back and hip extensor mechanism. In the early phases, this condition is at least partially correctable by suitable physical therapy.

show abstract

“…Varus deformities of the knees are more common in women than in men (6). The patient walks with a bowlegged waddling gait.…”

Section: Musculoskeletal Causes Of Gait Disordersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Electrogoniometric examinations and interrupted‐light photography have delineated the excursions of the individual lower‐extremity segments during walking (1–4). Most studies have been made on normal young persons; only a few have been concerned with the changes in the gait pattern that occur in old age (5–11).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Gait Disorders in the Aged*

Steinberg

1972

J American Geriatrics Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This has been termed a Ôcontrolled fallÕ (Azar and Lawton 1964;Townsend et al 1978;Zachazewski et al 1993) in which the supporting leg has to maintain adequate torque at extreme joint angles to control the transition of the centre of body mass. Furthermore, McFayden and Winter (1988) showed that greater torque needed to be developed in the lower limbs for stair descent compared to that of level walking, which may be problematic for the elderly because they tend to be weaker and have a smaller joint range of movement than younger subjects (Chapman et al 1972).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knee and ankle range of motion during stepping down in elderly compared to young men

Lark

Buckley

Jones

et al. 2004

European Journal of Applied Physiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A major factor limiting mobility in elderly subjects is their difficulty with descending steps but the physiological and biomechanical basis of this problem is not well understood. To address this question we have compared the kinematics of stepping down in six elderly male subjects and six weight- and height-matched younger subjects. Five reflective markers were positioned on the lower limbs and subjects were filmed stepping down from four heights (200, 250, 300, and 335 mm). Maximum angular displacements for the knee and ankle of the supporting limb were expressed as a percentage of each subject's passive range of motion (ROM). Time spent in 'foot flat' during single support was also compared. The results show the elderly subjects sustained dorsiflexion and a 'foot flat' position of the support limb for a significantly ( P<0.05) longer period than the young (approximately 20%). Consequently, elderly subjects utilised a greater percentage of their passive ankle ROM compared to the young (elderly approximately 200%; young approximately 125%). We conclude that the elderly maintained a 'foot flat' position for a longer period possibly to increase the time spent on a larger base of support. These results suggest that exercise prescription in the elderly should include stretching in order to increase the ROM at the ankle joint.

show abstract

“…To the Editor : Gait performance in older adults has been shown to be related both to behavioral (i.e., balance and falls 1,2 ) and social‐cognitive outcomes (i.e., fear of falling, self‐efficacy 2 ) and has been used as an index of functional status 3,4 . Although it is well established that whites have higher rates of falling 5 and greater incidences of broken bones 6 and osteoporosis 6 than blacks, it has yet to be determined whether gait performance, balance, and efficacy might differ for older black/African American (AA) and white/Caucasian American (CA) women.…”

Section: Correlations Within the Efficacy Measures And Gait Tasks Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We examined whether older black and white women (1) differed in gait speed, balance, fall rate, fear of falling, or self‐efficacy and (2) showed different patterns of relationships between these variables. Age‐ and activity‐matched samples (20 per group) were recruited from the Urbana‐Champaign community (Mean age = 71.1, range 59 to 86).…”

Section: Correlations Within the Efficacy Measures And Gait Tasks Fmentioning

confidence: 99%