Journal ArticleDOI
Performance-oriented assessment of mobility problems in elderly patients
TLDR
A practical performance-oriented assessment of mobility is described that incorporates useful features of both approaches and the recommended evaluation centers on the more effective use of readily (and frequently) obtained clinical data.Abstract:
M any people experience a decline in mobility with aging. The multiple chronic diseases and disabilities responsible for this decline also may predispose to falling. This decline is well recognized by clinicians caring for elderly patients. The Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination not only recognized the problem, but concluded that assessing physical, social, and psychologic functions as they impact on “Progressive Incapacity with Aging” was the most important assessment for patients over age 75.’ Prominent among their list of potentially preventable impairments were locomotory, sensory, and cognitive functions, each of which is intricately related to mobility. The Canadian Task Force further stated that protection of abilities should be emphasized over diagnosis. They believed that establishing the optimal content of the assessment was a high research priority. The purpose of the following discussion is to address the question of content of a functional mobility assessment appropriate for elderly patients. The limitations of relying solely on either a disease-oriented or a gait analytic approach are outlined. A practical performance-oriented assessment of mobility is described that incorporates useful features of both approaches. The recommended evaluation centers on the more effective use of readily (and frequently) obtained clinical data. Although limited to a discussion of ambulation as the expected mode of mobility (necessary because of space limitations), many of the concepts apply to other modes as well (eg, wheelchair).read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
The Timed “Up & Go”: A Test of Basic Functional Mobility for Frail Elderly Persons
TL;DR: This study evaluated a modified, timed version of the “Get‐Up and Go” Test (Mathias et al, 1986) in 60 patients referred to a Geriatric Day Hospital and suggested that the timed “Up & Go’ test is a reliable and valid test for quantifying functional mobility that may also be useful in following clinical change over time.
Journal ArticleDOI
A short physical performance battery assessing lower extremity function: association with self-reported disability and prediction of mortality and nursing home admission.
Jack M. Guralnik,Eleanor M. Simonsick,Luigi Ferrucci,Robert J. Glynn,Lisa F. Berkman,Dan G. Blazer,Paul A. Scherr,Robert B. Wallace +7 more
TL;DR: Evidence is presented that performance measures can validly characterize older persons across a broad spectrum of lower extremity function and that performance and self-report measures may complement each other in providing useful information about functional status.
Journal ArticleDOI
Risk factors for falls among elderly persons living in the community.
TL;DR: It is concluded that falls among older persons living in the community are common and that a simple clinical assessment can identify the elderly persons who are at the greatest risk of falling.
Journal ArticleDOI
Epidemiology of Sarcopenia among the Elderly in New Mexico
Richard N. Baumgartner,Kathleen M. Koehler,Dympna Gallagher,Linda J. Romero,Steven B. Heymsfield,Robert Ross,Philip J. Garry,Robert D. Lindeman +7 more
TL;DR: Some of the first estimates of the extent of the public health problem posed by sarcopenia are provided, independent of ethnicity, age, morbidity, obesity, income, and health behaviors.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Disablement Process.
Lois M. Verbrugge,Alan M. Jette +1 more
TL;DR: This article compares the disablement experiences of people who acquire chronic conditions early in life and those who acquire them in mid or late life (late-life disability), which can help inform research and public health activities.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Fall risk index for elderly patients based on number of chronic disabilities
TL;DR: The mobility test, the best single predictor of recurrent falling, may be useful clinically because it is simple, recreates fall situations, and provides a dynamic, integrated assessment of mobility.
Journal ArticleDOI
Walking Patterns of Normal Men
M P Murray,A B Drought,R C Kory +2 more
TL;DR: A simple and inexpensive photographic method has been developed whereby many kinematic components of the walking act in the sagittal, frontal, and transverse planes can be measured and related temporally.
Phobic Fear of Falling and Its Clinical Management
Ram P. Bhala,Ephrem Thoppil +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors have seen six patients who developed intense fear of standing or walking as a result of accidental falls and none of these patients showed any evidence of neuromuscular impairment that might account for their inability to walk.