The association between fear of falling and occurrence of falls: a one-year cohort study.

Background: Both multiple fall experiences and fear of falling (FoF) would make people susceptible to another fall; however, the associations are unknown. This study investigates the association of FoF with fall occurrence among older adults according to their fall history.

Methods: In this study, we adopted a longitudinal observational design.

Association between knee extensor force steadiness and postural stability against mechanical perturbation in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Objective: Lower extremity force steadiness has been shown to decrease with aging and neuromotor dysfunction and to be associated with physical function and fall. Although patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) experience decreased force steadiness, whether the extent of force steadiness differs according to target force or whether this steadiness is associated with postural control remain unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the force steadiness while steadily exerting low and moderate levels of knee extensor force between individuals with and without PD and to examine the association between force steadiness and postural instability against mechanical perturbation in PD.

Association between Abnormal Gait Patterns and an Elevated Degree of Pain after Daily Walking: A Preliminary Study.

This study aimed to investigate whether abnormal gait patterns are associated with experiencing an elevated degree of pain after daily walking. In this preliminary, cross-sectional study, 223 community-dwelling older adults were assessed for pain experienced after daily walking using a simple question that involved asking the subject about their past experiences of an elevated degree of pain after walking for 400 m or more. Gait patterns were assessed using the Comprehensive Gait Assessment using InerTial Sensor score (C-GAITS score), derived from the data measured by Inertial sensors attached to the lower trunk and heel when subjects walked along a 15 m walkway at a self-selected preferred speed.

Concurrent validity of the step time and walking speed obtained from the smartphone application CareCoaching in independent, community-dwelling older adults.

[Purpose] In this study, we verified the validity of the step time and walking speed obtained from the smartphone gait analysis application CareCoaching. [Participants and Methods] The participants were 66 independent, community-dwelling adults aged 65 years or older who performed a 10-m walking test twice each under preferred- and slow-speed conditions. We concurrently measured gait motions using CareCoaching and the OptoGait system for reference data.

Development and persistence of fear of falling relate to a different mobility functions in community-dwelling older adults: one-year longitudinal predictive validity study.

Background: Fear of falling (FoF) is a common psychological problem in community-dwelling older adults. However, which mobility function relate to newly developed FoF and persistent FoF are unknown.

Aims: We aimed to clarify which baseline mobility function is an independent predictor of one-year change in FoF.

Does dual-tasking provide additional value in timed "up and go" test for predicting the occurrence of falls? A longitudinal observation study by age group (young-older or old-older adults).

Background: Previous studies using relatively large samples and longitudinal observational designs reported dual-tasking had additional value in timed "up and go" test (TUG) for falls assessment among well-functioning older adults.

Aim: To elucidate the additional value of dual-tasking in TUG for predicting the occurrence of falls among community-dwelling older adults by age group using a predictive model.

Methods: This longitudinal observation study included 987 community-dwelling older adults at baseline.

Changes in step time variability, not changes in step length and width, are associated with lower-trunk sway during dual-task gait in older adults.

Individuals are exposed to repetitive dual-task-like situations in daily life, particularly while walking, and falls among community-dwelling older adults typically occur in such situations. Thus, understanding how individuals adapt their walking-related motion under dual-task conditions is of clinical importance. The present study was conducted to investigate the association between dual-task-related changes (DT-changes) in lower-limb gait parameters and DT-changes in lower-trunk sway.

Association of fall history with the Timed Up and Go test score and the dual task cost: A cross-sectional study among independent community-dwelling older adults.

Aim: To investigate the associations between fall history and the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test (single-TUG test), TUG test while counting aloud backwards from 100 (dual-TUG test) and the dual-task cost (DTC) among independent community-dwelling older adults.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 537 older adults who lived independently in the community. Data on fall history in the previous year were obtained by self-administrated questionnaire.