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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Physical and psychological factors associated with stair negotiation performance in older people | | Author(s) | Anne C Tiedemann, Catherine Sherrington, Stephen R Lord |
| Journal title | Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, vol 62A, no 11, November 2007 |
| Pages | pp 1259-1265 |
| Source | http://www.geron.org |
| Keywords | Mobility ; Physical disabilities ; Stairs ; Living in the community ; Australia. |
| Annotation | An inability to negotiate stairs is a marker of disability and functional decline and can be a critical factor in loss of independence in older people. There is limited research in the underlying factors that impair performance in this important activity of daily living (ADL). In this Australian study, 664 community-dwelling people aged 75-98 underwent stair negotiation tests as well as tests of lower limb strength, vision, peripheral sensation, reaction time, and balance and completed questionnaires measuring psychological and health status. Many physiological and psychological factors were significantly associated with stair negotiation speed. Multiple regression analyses revealed that knee extension and knee flexor strength, lower limb proprioception, edge contrast sensitivity, reaction time involving a foot-press response, leaning balance, fear of falling, and the Short Form 12 Health Status Questionnaire (SF-12) pain and vitality scores were significant and independent predictors of ascent and descent performance. The combined set of variables explained 47% of the variance in stair ascent performance and 50% of the variance in stair descent performance. Measures of strength. balance, vision, fear and vitality also significantly discriminated between people who did and did not require the sue of the handrail when performing the tests. In community-dwelling older people, impaired stair negotiation is associated not only with reduced strength but also with impaired sensation, strength and balance, reduced vitality, presence of pain, and increased fear of falling. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-080305207 A |
| Classmark | C4: BN: YCA: K4: 7YA |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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