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).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: 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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Fewer than half of the patients with hip fracture will regain the prefracture level of physical functioning. This secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial investigated the effects of a multicomponent home-based rehabilitation program (ProMo) on physical disability after hip fracture.
Design: Randomized, controlled, parallel-group trial.
Objective: To investigate whether a home-based rehabilitation program for community-dwelling older people with recent hip fracture is more effective than standard care in improving mobility recovery and reducing disability.
Design: Randomized, controlled, parallel-group trial.
Setting: Rehabilitation in participants' homes; measurements in university-based laboratory and local hospital.
Background: To cope at their homes, community-dwelling older people surviving a hip fracture need a sufficient amount of functional ability and mobility. There is a lack of evidence on the best practices supporting recovery after hip fracture. The purpose of this article is to describe the design, intervention and demographic baseline results of a study investigating the effects of a rehabilitation program aiming to restore mobility and functional capacity among community-dwelling participants after hip fracture.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Balance training programs have not shown consistent results among older adults, and it remains unclear how different training methods can be adapted to frail elderly people.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a 4-week visual feedback-based balance training on the postural control of frail elderly women living in residential care homes.
Methods: Elderly women of two residential care facilities were randomized to an exercise group (EG, n = 20) and to a control group (CG, n = 7).