Objectives: (1) To examine the reliability of a new clinical measure of simultaneous walking with performance of a working memory task, the Walking and Remembering Test (WART). (2) To compare older adult to younger adult WART performance to illustrate preliminary validity.
Subjects: Convenience sample of 25 young adults (ages 22-35) and 25 older adults (ages 65-86) performed the WART twice.
Methods: Subjects walked 6.1 meters at their fastest safe speed along a path requiring a narrowed base of support in both single and dual-task (with simultaneous digit span task) conditions. Reductions in walking and cognitive performance were examined in the dual-task condition for older adults as compared to younger adults.
Main Outcome Measures: Walking time, step accuracy, digit span memory accuracy, and dual-task costs for walking and cognitive tasks.
Results: Inter-rater reliability ICC (2,1) values were > or = .97 for walking time and digit span accuracy. Rater agreement of steps off the path was excellent (93%) for young adults and good (76%) for older adults. Test-retest reliability ICC (2,1) values for walking time were > or = .79. Older adults were slower and remembered shorter digit spans, and demonstrated greater dual-task costs for digit span accuracy and steps off the path than younger adults, but relative dual-task costs for walking time were not significantly different between groups.
Conclusions: The WART is a reliable clinical measure of dual-task memory and walking that can be administered safely with community-dwelling older adults. Expected greater dual-task costs for older adults were observed, but not as strongly as anticipated in this group of very active subjects. The WART provides information that may be useful in targeting patients for intervention to reduce risk of falls in dual-task conditions, but needs validation with older adults across a greater range of walking ability.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1519/00139143-200932010-00002 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Cell-specific transcriptional signatures of vascular cells in Alzheimer's disease: perspectives, pathways, and therapeutic directions.
Mol Neurodegener
January 2025
Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Center for Neuroimaging, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a debilitating neurodegenerative disease that is marked by profound neurovascular dysfunction and significant cell-specific alterations in the brain vasculature. Recent advances in high throughput single-cell transcriptomics technology have enabled the study of the human brain vasculature at an unprecedented depth. Additionally, the understudied niche of cerebrovascular cells, such as endothelial and mural cells, and their subtypes have been scrutinized for understanding cellular and transcriptional heterogeneity in AD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlobal, regional, and national burdens of type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus in adolescents from 1990 to 2021, with forecasts to 2030: a systematic analysis of the global burden of disease study 2021.
BMC Med
January 2025
Department of Health Economics, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Background: Adolescent diabetes is one of the major public health problems worldwide. This study aims to estimate the burden of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in adolescents from 1990 to 2021, and to predict diabetes prevalence through 2030.
Methods: We extracted epidemiologic data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) on T1DM and T2DM among adolescents aged 10-24 years in 204 countries and territories worldwide.
Barriers to and facilitators of healthcare professionals in ADR reporting in a tertiary care hospital in India.
BMC Health Serv Res
January 2025
Department of Pharmacy Practice, SRM College of Pharmacy, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur , Tamil Nadu, 603203, India.
Introduction: Several adverse drug reactions (ADRs) go unreported within a healthcare setting despite the risks they cause. We therefore decided to conduct this study in order to recognize the obstacles that hinder the healthcare professionals (HCPs) in a tertiary care hospital in Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu from reporting ADRs and what strategies ought to be implemented.
Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study among the HCPs such as doctors, pharmacists and nurses within our institution.
Experiences, perceptions and ethical considerations of the malaria infection study in Thailand.
BMC Med Ethics
January 2025
Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, 420/6 Rajvithi Road, Thunphayathai, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand.
Background: Thailand has made significant progress in malaria control efforts in the past decade, with a decline in the number of reported cases. However, due to cross-border movements over the past 5 years, reported malaria cases in Thailand have risen. The Malaria Infection Study in Thailand (MIST) involves deliberate infection of healthy volunteers with Plasmodium vivax malaria parasites, and the assessment of the efficacy of potential vaccine and drug candidates in order to understand acquired protection against malaria parasites.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfluence of religion and spirituality on head and neck cancer patients and their caregivers: a protocol for a scoping review.
Syst Rev
January 2025
Preventive Oral Health Unit, National Dental Hospital (Teaching) Sri Lanka, Ward Place, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka.
Introduction: Head and neck cancers (HNC) are devastating, thus imposing a negative impact on the appearance of an individual as well as vital activities such as eating, swallowing, speaking, and breathing. Therefore, HNC patients undergo distress, while their caregivers become overburdened. Religion and spirituality can be helpful for patients and their caregivers from diverse cultural backgrounds to cope with cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!