Article

Falls are common events in the elderly and represent the main risk factor for
fractures and other injuries. Strategies for fall prevention rely on the
multifactorial assessment of the risk of falling. The contribution of
instrumented balance assessment to the prediction of falls remains unclear in the
literature. In this study, we analyzed the association between the fall-history
of a wide sample of older people without dementia and the values of a set of
posturographic parameters acquired in different visual, proprioceptive and mental
conditions. A consecutive sample of 130 cognitively able elderly subjects,
age>/=70 years, was analyzed. Based on their fall-history in the last year,
subjects were categorized into non-fallers (NF), fallers (F) and recurrent
fallers (RF>2 falls). Each subject was assessed by measurements of cognition and
functional ability. Static posturography tests were performed in five conditions:
with eyes open/close (EO/EC) on a firm/compliant (FS/CS) surface and while
performing a cognitive task. The center of pressure (COP) mean position referred
to the mid-point of the heels, area of the 95% confidence ellipse, sway mean
velocities and RMS displacements in the antero-posterior (AP) and medio-lateral
(ML) directions were computed and their association with the fall-history was
assessed. The mean position of the COP in the AP direction and the confidence
ellipse area were associated with the fall-history in the EOFS, ECFS and EOCS
conditions (P<0.05). RMS displacements were also associated with the fall-history
in the EOCS condition (P<0.05). Significant group differences (P<0.05) were found
in the EOCS conditions, which greatly enhanced the differences among NF, F and
RF. The ability to control balance while standing with eyes open on a compliant
surface showed a high degree of association with the fall-history of older people
with no or mild cognitive impairment.
CI - Copyright (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS