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"Faster counting while walking" as a predictor of falls in older adults
Author(s)Oliver Beauchet, Véronique Dubost, Gilles Allali
Journal titleAge and Ageing, vol 36, no 4, July 2007
Pagespp 418-423
Sourcehttp://www.ageing.oupjournals.org
KeywordsMental speed ; Independence ; Falls ; Correlation ; France.
AnnotationParticipants were 187 people aged 73-100 (mean age 84.5) living independently in 27 housing developments for older people in Saint-Étienne, France. During enrolment, they were asked to count aloud backwards from 50, both at rest and while walking, and then divided into two groups according to counting performance. Information on incident falls during the following year were collected monthly. Faster counting while walking was strongly associated with falls, suggesting that better performance in an additional verbal counting task while walking might represent a new way to predict falls in older people. Despite the development of dual-task based fall risk assessment tests, findings about the relationship between dual-task-related gait changes and falls remain controversial. (RH).
Accession NumberCPA-070813206 A
ClassmarkDG: C3: OLF: 49: 765

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