Introduction and purpose: Walking difficulty, visual impairment and distance perception disorders are the most important problems in old age. The purpose of this study was to compare distance perception in active and inactive elderly with an emphasis on physical activity. Materials and Methods: This causal-comparative study was conducted among elderly men in the city of Tabriz. Random sampling method was used to recruit 25 active and 25 inactive elderly into this study. Distance perception was measured by direct observation of elderly walking with closed eyes in a straight line towards pre-specified target and percentage of error was used as the indicator of distance perception. Data were analyzed using SPSS via independent sample t-test. Findings: The results of this study showed that active elderly had significantly (p<0.05) longer step length, lower number of steps and shorter walking time compared to inactive elderly. Conclusions: Findings from the present study confirmed superiority of active lifestyle in terms of physical activity. These results show that physical activity increases the confidence in elderly to take longer steps and walk a distance in shorter time.

A comparison of distance perception in active and inactive elderly with an emphasis on physical activity

1. MSc. in Physical Educa on and Sport Sciences, Department of Physical Educa on, Faculty of Humani es, Arak University, Arak, Iran. 2. Assistant Professor in Sport Medicine, Department of Physical Educa on and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Humani es, Arak University, Arak, Iran. 3. Assistant Professor in Motor Behavior, Department of Physical Educa on and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Humani es, Arak University, Arak, Iran. *Morteza Abdiani 1, Masoud Golpayegani 2, Dariush Khajavi 2

Validity and Reliability of Persian Version of Dynamic Gait Index in Older Men

Dual-task training under variable-priority instructions (DT-VP), during which subjects are required to vary their focus of attention (FOA) between two concurrent tasks, has shown a more significant improvement in neural rehabilitation than that under fixed-priority instructions. Failed FOA switching not only diminishes the recovery benefits, but also causes anxieties, which is detrimental to rehabilitation. Developing a strategy for tracking and regulating patients' FOA to achieve a better performance in task priority-following during DT-VP is thus imperative. In this study, fifteen stroke patients participated in DT-VP that comprised two tasks: a mathematical problem-solving task and a cycling task, during which their electroencephalograms were recorded simultaneously. The significantly differentiated power spectra of four brain regions extracted from single-task training were fed into a support vector machine to build a FOA tracking algorithm for patients' attention assessment during the DT-VP. Moreover, dual-task difficulty adaptation method was designed to regulate patients' FOA when their FOA and the high-priority task were not coincident. The comparison experimental results showed that the proposed method significantly improved patients' FOA distributed on the high-priority task (analysis of variance, 0.05). Meanwhile, the absolute power spectral densities of the motor cortex and the frontal region could also be improved during DT-VP under high motor and cognitive task priority instructions, respectively. These phenomena demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed method in helping stroke patients better implement FOA switching and maintenance. 

EEG-Based Focus of Attention Tracking and Regulation During Dual-Task Training for Neural Rehabilitation of Stroke Patients

Psychological and Physical Fall Assessment Tools in Persian Older Adults: A COSMIN Systematic Review

Reliability and validity of the Tinetti performance oriented mobility assessment in Chinese community-dwelling older adults.

Article info: Received: 11 Aug 2019 Accepted: 02 Nov 2019 Available Online: 01 Dec 2019

http://irj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-1058-en.pdf

Reliability and Validity of Persian Version of Performance-oriented Mobility Assessment (POMA) in Community-dwelling Iranian Older Adults: Psychometric Properties

Anxiety is among the most debilitating nonmotor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). This study aimed to determine how PD patients with low and high levels of anxiety (LA-PD and HA-PD, respectively) compare with age- and sex-matched controls at the level of motor control of reach-to-grasp movements during single- and dual-task conditions with varying complexity. Reach-to-grasp movement kinematics were assessed in 20 LA-PD, 20 HA-PD, and 20 sex- and age-matched healthy controls under single- as well as easy and difficult dual-task conditions. Assessment of PD patients was performed during both the on- and off-drug phases. The results obtained during dual-task conditions reveal deficits in both reach and grasp components for all three groups (e.g., decreased peak velocity and delayed maximum hand opening). However, these deficits were significantly greater in the PD groups, especially in the HA-PD group. Although dopaminergic medication improved reach kinematics, it had no effect on grasp kinematics. The results of our study indicated that high levels of anxiety may enhance the inefficiency of upper limb motor control in PD patients, especially during high demanding cognitive conditions, and should, therefore, be considered in the assessment and planning of interventions for upper limb function in these patients.

Mahtab Roohi-Azizi

Papers

Reliability and Validity of Persian Version of Performance-oriented Mobility Assessment (POMA) in Community-dwelling Iranian Older Adults: Psychometric Properties

Anxiety and cognitive load affect upper limb motor control in Parkinson's disease during medication phases.