Effects of physical and cognitive training on gait speed and cognition in older adults: A randomized controlled trial.

Gait speed is a measure of health and functioning. Physical and cognitive determinants of gait are amenable to interventions, but best practices remain unclear. We investigated the effects of a 12-month physical and cognitive training (PTCT) on gait speed, dual-task cost in gait speed, and executive functions (EFs) compared with physical training (PT) (ISRCTN52388040).

Associations of neuroticism with falls in older adults: do psychological factors mediate the association?

Objectives: Neuroticism predicts falls in older people. In addition, concern about falling and depressive symptoms are associated with fall risk. This study examined whether concern about falling and depressive symptoms mediate the association between neuroticism and falls.

Promoting safe walking among older people: the effects of a physical and cognitive training intervention vs. physical training alone on mobility and falls among older community-dwelling men and women (the PASSWORD study): design and methods of a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Safe and stable walking is a complex process involving the interaction of neuromuscular, sensory and cognitive functions. As physical and cognitive functions deteriorate with ageing, training of both functions may have more beneficial effects on walking and falls prevention than either alone. This article describes the study design, recruitment strategies and interventions of the PASSWORD study investigating whether a combination of physical and cognitive training (PTCT) has greater effects on walking speed, dual-task cost in walking speed, fall incidence and executive functions compared to physical training (PT) alone among 70-85-year-old community-dwelling sedentary or at most moderately physically active men and women.

A supportive home visit program for older adults implemented by non-professionals: feasibility and effects on physical performance and quality of life at one year--a pilot study.

Knowledge of supportive home rehabilitative procedures is needed to improve the independent home training and psychosocial wellbeing of older people. The primary focus of this study was to assess the feasibility of a home visit program involving the use of non-professional home rehabilitation assistants (HRAs) support among elderly. The secondary objective was to investigate the effects to physical performance and health-related quality of life (HRQL) of older people.

The effect of geriatric rehabilitation on physical performance and pain in men and women.

In the developed countries, people are living longer and the number of aged persons is growing. Knowledge on the effectiveness of rehabilitative procedures is needed and information in physical performance between men and women is scarce. An intervention study was carried out in two war veterans' rehabilitation centers in Finland to examine the effects of geriatric inpatient rehabilitation on physical performance and pain in elderly men and women.

Benefits of home-based rocking-chair exercise for physical performance in community-dwelling elderly women: a randomized controlled trial.

Background And Aims: Home-based exercise is a viable alternative for older adults with difficulties in exercise opportunities outside the home. The aim of this study was to investigate the benefits of home-based rocking-chair training, and its effects on the physical performance of elderly women.

Methods: Community- dwelling women (n=51) aged 73-87 years were randomly assigned to the rocking-chair group (RCG, n=26) or control group (CG, n=25) by drawing lots.

Mobility performance and its sensory, psychomotor and musculoskeletal determinants from age 75 to age 80.

Background And Aims: Prospective studies on the simultaneous effects of multiple determinants on objectively assessed mobility are few. The aim of this study was to analyse mobility performance, its stability and sensory, psychomotor and musculoskeletal determinants in an older population from age 75 to age 80.

Methods: Sixty-three men and 121 women aged 75 participated at baseline and, five years later, in the follow-up phase of this population-based prospective study.

[Home rehabilitation assistant improves the quality of life of the elderly].

We investigated the health status, functional ability, mood and quality of life of 464 persons undergoing a rehabilitation period in two centers for care and rehabilition for war veterans' by comprehensive interviews and measurements of functional ability. The investigation involved a 2 to 4-week period in a rehabilitation unit and a controlled investigation with a home rehabilitation assistant for one year. Hand grip strength, knee extension strength and walking speed, among other things, improved during the institutional rehabilitation period.

Mobility limitations and cognitive deficits as predictors of institutionalization among community-dwelling older people.

Purpose: Mobility limitations and cognitive disorders have often been observed as risks for institutionalization. However, their combined effects on risk of institutionalization among initially community-dwelling older people have been less well reported.

Design: A prospective cohort study with 10-year surveillance on institutionalization.

Multidimensional health assessment of 75- and 80-year-old men and women: a five-year prospective study.

Background And Aims: There are no earlier reports of regular multidimensional health check programs in elderly people. The aim of this study was to establish the number and type of previously unrecognized health conditions in two cohorts of elderly people examined twice during a 5-year period, and to determine how these conditions were subsequently evaluated and treated.

Methods: This population-based study, carried out at a university research center in Finland, consisted of a multidimensional and multiphased health assessment including interviews, health questionnaires and medical examinations and tests, and follow-up of subsequent examinations and treatment.

Changes in household composition as determinant of changes in functional ability among old men and women.

The aims of this article were 1) to describe changes in functional ability from ages 75 to 80 among men and women in three Nordic localities, and 2) to analyze whether these changes are determined by changes in household composition from ages 70 to 75. The present analyses include the persons who participated in the NORA follow-up study of 75-80 year-old men and women in Jyväskylä, Finland (N=243), Göteborg, Sweden (N=226), and Glostrup, Denmark (N=274). Functional ability was measured by tiredness and need for help in Physical and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (PADL and IADL).

Tiredness in daily activities among nondisabled old people as determinant of onset of disability.

The purpose of this article was to examine whether self-reported tiredness in daily activities at age 75 is an independent determinant of onset of disability at 5-year follow-up. The investigation is based on two subgroups of nondisabled participants of 75 year olds who survived and participated in the follow-up study 5 years later (n = 510 and 429). Persons who felt tired in their daily activities had a larger risk of becoming disabled in mobility (OR = 3.