Centre for Policy on Ageing



The effects of two types of cognitive tasks on postural stability in older adults with and without a history of falls
Author(s)	Anne Shumway-Cook, Marjorie Woollacott, Kimberly A Kerns
Journal title	The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological sciences and medical sciences, vol 52A, no 4, July 1997
Pages	pp M232-M240
Keywords	Mobility ; Cognitive processes ; Falls ; Older people ; Adults.
Annotation	Several studies have suggested that decreased balance control due to injury or ageing may increase the attentional requirements associated with maintaining stability. However, little is known about the mechanism by which declining postural control requires increased attentional resources, and the effect on the ability to maintain stability during the concurrent performance of postural and cognitive tasks. This study examined the effects of two different types of cognitive tasks on stability in young and older people with and without a history of falls. During the performance of the tasks decrements were found in postural stability measures rather than in the cognitive measures for all groups. Postural stability in older individuals with a history of falls was significantly affected by both cognitive tasks. The study concluded that when postural stability is impaired even simple cognitive tasks can further impact balance.
Accession Number	CPA-971125217 A
Classmark	C4: DA: OLF: B: SD
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.