Investigation of Gait in Elderly Subjects Over 88 Years of Age

Autor: Bloem, Bastiaan R., Haan, Joost, Lagaay, Anne M., van Beek, Wim, Wintzen, Axel R., Roos, Raymund A.C.
Zdroj: Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology; April 1992, Vol. 5 Issue: 2 p78-84, 7p
Abstrakt: To evaluate senile gait patterns in octagenarians and nonagenarians, we provided a standardized questionnaire on gait disabilities to 153 elderly subjects over 88 years of age. Subjects represented a relatively healthy subgroup of noninstitu-tionalized residents who participated in a gerontological survey of all inhabitants of the city of Leiden who were 85 years of age or older. Of the 142 subjects who responded to this questionnaire, 87 persons (61 %) claimed distinct diseases as a cause of gait impairment. Forty-two of the remaining 55 persons were investigated neurologically and received a standardized assessment of gait. Twenty-five persons (18% of all responders) had a completely normal gait, whereas a wide spectrum of gait abnormalities—mainly with ataxic features—was encountered in the remaining persons. It is concluded that a surprisingly high number of very old community residents can have a completely normal gait. Gait disorders in this age group are most frequently associated with common distinct diseases. In addition, many elderly have a gait disturbance of variable clinical nature and unclear pathologic basis, which may represent the “idiopathic senile gait.” U Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol1992;5:78–84).
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