Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Dr Susan Lord, Professor Lynn RochesterORCiD
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
Lord SE, Weatherall M, Rochester L. Community ambulation in older adults: which internal characteristics are important? Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2010;91:378-83. Objective: To examine the internal characteristics of older adults independent in community ambulation to gain further understanding of the skills required for its successful execution. Design: Exploratory factor analysis. Setting: General community. Participants: Healthy, community dwelling older adults (N=113) who were cognitively intact and walked outdoors independently. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Spatiotemporal gait parameters derived from accelerometry over 6 minutes walking outdoors and a battery of measures for motor, cognitive, executive, and behavioral characteristics. Results: Mean participant age +/- SD was 75.8+/-7.3 years, with almost a third of the sample over 80 years. Four factors emerged from the Factor Analysis of 23 variables: motor control, self-efficacy, executive function, and cognitive-motor interference, which together explained 61.4% of common variance. Eight variables loaded onto motor control, accounting for 34.5% of common variance; 7 items loaded onto self-efficacy, which explained 12.4% of common variance; 5 variables loaded onto executive function, accounting for 8.4% of common variance; and 3 variables loaded onto cognitive-motor interference, explaining 6% of the variance. Conclusions: Results of this study indicate that factors beyond motor control contribute to independent community ambulation in older adults, reflecting the multidimensional, complex nature of the task. Self-efficacy was shown to be more relevant than executive function to gait performance, suggesting the need for a broader approach to assessment and intervention strategies.
Author(s): Lord SE, Weatherall M, Rochester L
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Year: 2010
Volume: 91
Issue: 3
Pages: 378-383
Print publication date: 16/03/2010
ISSN (print): 0003-9993
ISSN (electronic): 1532-821X
Publisher: WB Saunders Co.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2009.11.008
DOI: 10.1016/j.apmr.2009.11.008
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
