Balance, gait performance and muscular strength in the elderly
(2001)- Abstract
- Fracture incidence is higher in urban than in rural inhabitants. Background factors such as physical activity and workload may have an influence on the tendency to fall, leading to fractures. We found that elderly women with a recent fracture of the distal radius appear to have impaired balance, an impairment that seems to normalise with time after fracture. The aim of this study was also to get normative data for healthy subjects of functional performance, such as balance, gait performance and muscular strength. Different populations were investigated. Men and women 50, 60, 70 and 80 years of age and women of 40 years from an urban and a rural area were investigated. Background factors such as age, gender, housing, medical status,... (More)
- Fracture incidence is higher in urban than in rural inhabitants. Background factors such as physical activity and workload may have an influence on the tendency to fall, leading to fractures. We found that elderly women with a recent fracture of the distal radius appear to have impaired balance, an impairment that seems to normalise with time after fracture. The aim of this study was also to get normative data for healthy subjects of functional performance, such as balance, gait performance and muscular strength. Different populations were investigated. Men and women 50, 60, 70 and 80 years of age and women of 40 years from an urban and a rural area were investigated. Background factors such as age, gender, housing, medical status, workload and sparetime activities were collected. Urban subjects had significantly inferior balance compared with rural subjects and this difference increased with increasing age. The urban subjects walked faster but the rural subjects took longer steps. Sparetime activities correlated with balance and step length and workload with walking speed. Muscular strength of knee extension was significantly lower in the urban men and women in almost all age groups. This difference was not pronounced in knee flexion except for the oldest subjects. To investigate whether any of the clinical balance and gait performance tests could be related to computerised balance and muscular strength tests, 230 women, of 75 years of age were examined. The computerised balance platform test, could not be related to any of the clinical balance tests, gait performance tests or muscular strength tests. The clinical balance test was correlated with walking speed and step length. Extension and flexion strength of the knee and ankle dorsiflexion were also related to walking speed and step length. The heavier an individual was, the slower she walked and the shorter her steps, despite having stronger knee muscles. Women over the age of 65, who had participated for more than 20 years in physical exercise groups, had significantly better balance, gait performance and muscular strength of the knee and were less in need of home aid compared to urban women of the same age. When the active women were compared with age-matched rural women this difference was less pronounced. The results of this study emphasise the necessity of using correct normative data as regards balance, gait performance and muscular strength when different populations are compared. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Benbrott inträffar i betydligt högre grad hos stadsbor jämfört med landsortsbor. Bakgrundsfaktorer, såsom graden av fysisk aktivitet och belastning i arbetet, kan ha betydelse för fall, som orsakar benbrott. Vi fann att äldre kvinnor som brutit handleden inom 3 månader från undersökningstillfället föreföll ha nedsatt balans, en försämring som verkar förbättras till normal balans längre tid efter brottet. Målsättningen med denna studie var också att erhålla normalvärden för friska individers funktionella förmåga, såsom balans, gångförmåga och muskelstyrka. Olika populationer undersöktes. Män och kvinnor i åldrarna 50, 60, 70 och 80 år och 40-åriga kvinnor från stad och landsbygd testades.... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
Benbrott inträffar i betydligt högre grad hos stadsbor jämfört med landsortsbor. Bakgrundsfaktorer, såsom graden av fysisk aktivitet och belastning i arbetet, kan ha betydelse för fall, som orsakar benbrott. Vi fann att äldre kvinnor som brutit handleden inom 3 månader från undersökningstillfället föreföll ha nedsatt balans, en försämring som verkar förbättras till normal balans längre tid efter brottet. Målsättningen med denna studie var också att erhålla normalvärden för friska individers funktionella förmåga, såsom balans, gångförmåga och muskelstyrka. Olika populationer undersöktes. Män och kvinnor i åldrarna 50, 60, 70 och 80 år och 40-åriga kvinnor från stad och landsbygd testades. Bakgrundsfaktorer som kön, ålder, boendesituation, hälso- och medicinskt status, arbetsbelastning och fritidsaktiviteter insamlades. Stadsbor hade betydligt nedsatt balansförmåga jämfört med landsortsbor och denna skillnad ökade med åldern. Stadsbor gick fortare men landsortsbor tog längre steg. Fritidsaktiviteter stod i relation till balans och steglängd och arbetsbelastning i relation till gånghastighet. Muskelstyrkan i knästräckarna var betydligt svagare hos män och kvinnor i nästan alla åldersgrupper i stadsbefolkningen. Denna svaghet var inte lika uttalad i knäböjarna utom i den äldsta gruppen. För att undersöka om någon av de kliniska balans- och gångtesterna var relaterade till de datoriserade balans- och styrketesterna undersöktes 230 kvinnor i åldern 75 år. Testerna från den datoriserade balansplattan var inte relaterade till någon av de kliniska balanstesterna , testerna av gångförmåga eller styrketesterna. Däremot var de kliniska balanstesterna korrelerade till gånghastighet och steglängd. Styrkan i knästräckare och knäböjare och fotens dorsalböjare var relaterad till gånghastighet och steglängd. Ju tyngre en individ var desto långsammare var gånghastigheten och kortare var steglängden, trots att knämuskulaturen var starkare. Kvinnor som var äldre än 65 år, stadsbor, och som deltagit i fysisk träning under mer än 20 år under sin livstid, hade betydligt bättre balans, gångförmåga och knämuskelstyrka och var inte beroende av social hemtjänst jämfört med kvinnor från stadsbefolkning i samma åldrar. Vid jämförelse mellan dessa aktiva kvinnor och kvinnor från landsbygden var skillnaderna mindre. Resultat från denna studie påvisar nödvändigheten att använda korrekta normalvärden för balans, gångförmåga och muskelstyrka vid jämförelse mellan olika populationer. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/41495
- author
- Ringsberg, Karin A M LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Doc Ljunggren, Östen, Medicinska kliniken, Akademiska sjukhuset, Uppsala
- organization
- publishing date
- 2001
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Surgery, populations, elderly, muscular strength, Balance, gait performance, orthopaedics, traumatology, Kirurgi, ortopedi, traumatologi
- pages
- 64 pages
- publisher
- Ortopediska kliniken, Universitetssjukhuset MAS, 205 02 Malmö, Sweden,
- defense location
- Universitetsklinikernas aula, UMAS,
- defense date
- 2001-05-15 13:00:00
- external identifiers
-
- other:ISRN: LUMEDW/MEDOM-1042-SE?
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- e383e09b-819b-4781-97d6-2d24caae7e38 (old id 41495)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 12:04:14
- date last changed
- 2018-11-21 21:08:49
@phdthesis{e383e09b-819b-4781-97d6-2d24caae7e38,
abstract = {{Fracture incidence is higher in urban than in rural inhabitants. Background factors such as physical activity and workload may have an influence on the tendency to fall, leading to fractures. We found that elderly women with a recent fracture of the distal radius appear to have impaired balance, an impairment that seems to normalise with time after fracture. The aim of this study was also to get normative data for healthy subjects of functional performance, such as balance, gait performance and muscular strength. Different populations were investigated. Men and women 50, 60, 70 and 80 years of age and women of 40 years from an urban and a rural area were investigated. Background factors such as age, gender, housing, medical status, workload and sparetime activities were collected. Urban subjects had significantly inferior balance compared with rural subjects and this difference increased with increasing age. The urban subjects walked faster but the rural subjects took longer steps. Sparetime activities correlated with balance and step length and workload with walking speed. Muscular strength of knee extension was significantly lower in the urban men and women in almost all age groups. This difference was not pronounced in knee flexion except for the oldest subjects. To investigate whether any of the clinical balance and gait performance tests could be related to computerised balance and muscular strength tests, 230 women, of 75 years of age were examined. The computerised balance platform test, could not be related to any of the clinical balance tests, gait performance tests or muscular strength tests. The clinical balance test was correlated with walking speed and step length. Extension and flexion strength of the knee and ankle dorsiflexion were also related to walking speed and step length. The heavier an individual was, the slower she walked and the shorter her steps, despite having stronger knee muscles. Women over the age of 65, who had participated for more than 20 years in physical exercise groups, had significantly better balance, gait performance and muscular strength of the knee and were less in need of home aid compared to urban women of the same age. When the active women were compared with age-matched rural women this difference was less pronounced. The results of this study emphasise the necessity of using correct normative data as regards balance, gait performance and muscular strength when different populations are compared.}},
author = {{Ringsberg, Karin A M}},
keywords = {{Surgery; populations; elderly; muscular strength; Balance; gait performance; orthopaedics; traumatology; Kirurgi; ortopedi; traumatologi}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Ortopediska kliniken, Universitetssjukhuset MAS, 205 02 Malmö, Sweden,}},
school = {{Lund University}},
title = {{Balance, gait performance and muscular strength in the elderly}},
year = {{2001}},
}