Associations of Usual and Fast Gait Speed With Physical Performance and Balance Confidence in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Implications for Assessment.

Background And Purpose: Gait speed is a robust measure that offers many advantages clinically. However, decisions concerning its utilization exist, including whether to assess usual or fast gait speed. The current study aimed to identify whether usual or fast gait speed was more strongly associated with physical performance measures and balance confidence.

The Original and Short Versions of the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Clinical Implications Based on Scale Agreement, Internal Consistencies, and Associations With Self-Rated Health.

Background And Purpose: Balance confidence assessment in older adults has implications for falls prevention and quality of life. It remains unclear whether the original Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC-16) or the shortened 6-item scale (ABC-6) is recommended clinically. This study examined ABC-16 and ABC-6 association and agreement, internal consistencies, and relationships with self-rated health (SRH) in community-dwelling older adults.

Dual-task cost of the Enhanced Gait Variability Index in community-dwelling older adults.

Background: Gait variability is associated with brain abnormalities, falls, and disability in older adults. The Enhanced Gait Variability Index (EGVI), a composite measure of gait variability, offers advantages over traditional measures of variability for individual spatiotemporal parameters (STPs). Gait assessment under complex conditions may reveal additional information about performance and provide insight into potential abnormalities.

Factors Related to Self-rated Health in Older Adults: A Clinical Approach Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) Model.

Background And Purpose: A growing population of older adults will require health care professionals to become increasingly knowledgeable in geriatric care. Patient ratings, functional measures, and emphasis on health and wellness should be part of geriatric physical therapy practice. The purpose of the current study was to examine relationships between self-rated health (SRH) and movement-related variables in older adults using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) as a research framework.

Community engagement: an essential component of well-being in older African-American adults.

Active engagement in life is a critical factor for successful aging. Research indicates that community engagement is strongly associated with health and well-being in late life. However, less is understood regarding the influence of neighborhood conditions on health and well-being, particularly in older African-American adults.

Falls efficacy and self-rated health in older African American adults.

Fear of falling and mobility restrictions have a significant negative impact on the quality of life of older adults. Because older African American adults are at increased risk for various modifiable health problems, understanding potential constraints on their overall health and mobility is critical in this population. The current study investigated this issue by analyzing a dataset of 449 older African American adults (mean age=72.

Physical activity benefits of learning to ride a two-wheel bicycle for children with Down syndrome: a randomized trial.

Background: People with Down syndrome (DS) display consistent patterns of physical inactivity. If these sedentary behaviors continue over extended periods of time, there will be negative health consequences.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the physical activity and health-related outcomes of teaching children with DS to ride a 2-wheel bicycle.

Treadmill responses and physical activity levels of infants at risk for neuromotor delay.

Purpose: This study described developmental changes in treadmill (TM) stepping and physical activity (PA) of infants at risk for neuromotor delay (ND) and explored these changes by diagnosis of cerebral palsy (CP). Relationships of stepping and PA with walking onset were examined.

Method: Fifteen infants at risk for ND (9.

Constrained motor-perceptual task in infancy: effects of sensory modality.

The authors examined the relative success of varying sensory stimulation modalities that they presented via a mobile reinforcement procedure for promoting left-knee extensions in 3-month-old infants. They separated 53 infants into 5 groups. Four groups received contingent unimodal auditory, enhanced auditory, or visual reinforcement or contingent bimodal auditory plus visual (aud + vis) reinforcement.

Strategy adoption and locomotor adjustment in obstacle clearance of newly walking toddlers with Down syndrome after different treadmill interventions.

This study investigated how newly walking toddlers with Down syndrome (DS), after different treadmill interventions, adopted clearance strategies and modified anticipatory locomotor adjustment patterns to negotiate an obstacle in their travel path. Thirty infants with DS (about 10 months of age) were recruited and randomly assigned to either a lower-intensity, generalized (LG) treadmill training group, or a higher-intensity, individualized (HI) treadmill training group. Thirteen in each group completed a one-year-gait follow-up after the treadmill intervention.

Effects of intensity of treadmill training on developmental outcomes and stepping in infants with Down syndrome: a randomized trial.

Background And Purpose: Infants with Down syndrome (DS) are consistently late walkers. The purpose of this investigation was to test the effects of individualized, progressively more intense treadmill training on developmental outcomes in infants with DS.

Subjects: Thirty infants born with DS were randomly assigned to receive lower-intensity, generalized treadmill training or higher-intensity, individualized training implemented by their parents in their homes.