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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Effects of age on balance assessment using voluntary and involuntary step tasks | | Author(s) | Carl W Luchies, Dennis Wallace, Ryan Pazdur |
| Journal title | The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological sciences and Medical Sciences, vol 54A, no 3, March 1999 |
| Pages | pp M140-144 |
| Keywords | Mobility ; Older women ; Young adults [20-25] ; Falls ; Evaluation ; Comparison ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | Taking a step while standing and modifying a step while walking are strategies often used to maintain balance when balance disturbances are encountered in activities of daily living (ADLs). This US study investigated whether performance on an involuntary step task (assumed to be a surrogate for fall recovery abilities) was comparable to performance of a voluntary step task. Performance of voluntary and involuntary steps tasks was measured in healthy young adult (mean age 21) and healthy older (mean age 68) women. Subjects stepped as fast as possible in the direction of a minimally destabilising lateral waist pull (voluntary step task), or responded naturally to a large destabilising lateral waist pull (involuntary step task). In the voluntary step task, older adults required significantly more time to lift their foot (young, 307 msec; older 424 msec). In the involuntary step task, older women were as quick as the young in lifting their foot (young, 322 msec; older, 335 msec). The young lifted their foot at about the same time for the two tasks. The study found that a voluntary step task underestimates the ability of healthy older adults to respond quickly when large destabilising balance disturbances are encountered. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-990825325 A |
| Classmark | C4: BD: SD6: OLF: 4C: 48: 7T |
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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