Article

Approximately 75% of all injury-producing falls on steps for people
of all ages occur in people 65 years of age and older. Diminished attentional
capacity contributes to fall risk in older adults, particularly when task demands are high.
The purpose of this study was to compare the attentional
demands of ascending and descending a set of stairs (stair ambulation) in older
adults and younger adults. DESIGN: This was a nonblinded, prospective,
single-site, observational cohort study. METHODS:
Ten older (>65 years of age)
and 10 younger (21-33 years of age) adults without disabilities were recruited. A dual-task approach was used for 2 task conditions: the first task was standing
and responding verbally to an unanticipated auditory tone as quickly as possible
(probe task), and the second task was ascending or descending a set of stairs
with the same probe task. A 2-factor (group x task) analysis of variance with
repeated measures on task (standing and stair ambulation) was performed for voice
response time (VRT). Significance for the analysis was set at P<.05. RESULTS: The
group x task interaction was significant for VRT. Post hoc analyses indicated
that during stair ambulation, the VRT for older adults was significantly longer
than that for younger adults. For the standing task, the VRTs (X+/-SD) were
similar for younger (322+/-65 milliseconds) and older (306+/-22 milliseconds)
participants. For stair ascent and descent, the average VRTs were more than 100
milliseconds longer for older participants (493+/-113 and 470+/-127 milliseconds,
respectively) than for younger participants (365+/-56 and 356+/-67 milliseconds,
respectively). LIMITATIONS: Because of the small sample size and generally fit
older group, generalization of findings to older people at risk for falls is not
recommended until further research is done. CONCLUSIONS:
The results demonstrated
that although both older and younger adults required similar attentional
resources for the standing task, older adults required significantly more resources during stair ambulation. The findings suggested that the dual-task
method used here provided a clinically useful measure for detecting important
changes in attentional demands in older adults who are healthy.

Langue : ANGLAIS