Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

PR_090

2006; Elsevier BV; Volume: 87; Issue: 11 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.apmr.2006.08.112

1532-821X

Esther Pagès, Judith Sánchez, A Cuxart, Remedios Martı́n, Lluis Martı́nez,

Balance, Gait, and Falls Prevention

Objective: To determine whether falls are related to physical exercise habits, balance, and strength in the population more than 64 years of age. Design: Cohort study. Setting: Patients over 64 years old able to independently carry out the basic activities of daily life and living in the community. Participants: The study included 130 patients (65% women; mean age ± SD, 72.1±5.7y) representative of the patient population in an urban primary care center in Barcelona (Spain). Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Information on physical exercise and activity. Falls over the previous year. Assessment of static and dynamic balance by a NedSVE/IBV platform dynamometer. Evaluation of walking speed. Assessment of quadriceps isometric strength with an isokinetic dynamometer. Results: Among the total sample, 26% never carried out any type of regular physical exercise. In the last year, 26% had not done any exercise, 48% had done light exercise, and 23% practiced sports; 37% had at least 1 fall. The biomechanic assessment showed slow walking in 19% and decreased quadriceps strength in 64%. Dynamic stability was altered in 88% of patients, but only 3% of patients presented an alteration in static stability. Alteration in strength was the only parameter related with falls (P=.14) and there was no relationship between light physical exercise and falls (P=.44) or dynamic balance (P=.13). Conclusions: In the elderly population, there is a considerable alteration in dynamic balance and a decrease in quadriceps strength that is related with falls. The practice of exercises to reeducate balance and enhance the quadriceps could be useful to prevent falls.