| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000)
Fiscal Year 1999: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000)
Fiscal Year 1998: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Carrying a load is one of risk factors of falls for elderly women. Biomechanical study on gait with load carriage for the elderly women revealed that a slender subject with low value of Body Mass Index (BMI: weight/heightィイD12ィエD1) tended to walk with low toe lift during the swing phase while carrying a load. Since low toe lift has been pointed out as one of the risk factors of falls, the gait pattern shown by that subject may put her in danger of falling during load carriage. Such gait pattern might be due to weak muscle strength frequently observed in slender elderly, and the result suggested some relationship between gait pattern with load carriage and BMI for elderly women. However there has been no study on gait with load carriage of the elderly women who showed different level of BMI. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different type of load carriage on gait of elderly women categorized by BMI.
Eighteen healthy elderly women aged over 60 particip
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ated in the study after informed consent. They were divided into three groups of six subjects each based on BMI value standardized by Japan Society for the Study of Obesity: underweight group (BMI<20), normal weight group (20.1<BMI<24), and overweight group (BMI>24.1). They performed four tasks comprising one normal walking without a load (NL) and three load carriage conditions over a 15m walking distance. Those carriage condition were frequently used by elderly who fell while carrying a load: (a) load at the side of the body in the dominant hand (SL), (b) load at the front of the body with two hands and elbows bent al approximately 90 (FL), and (c) load on their back (BL). Gaits were filmed by two video cameras operating at 60 fields/sec from frontal and saggital plane views of the subjects. Gait parameters such as step length, step frequency, velocity the maximum toe height during the swing phase, an inclination of the trunk (trunk angle) al the heel contact were analyzed using video analysis system Frame Dias System (DKH Co.).
Overweight group tended to walk with a longer step length and a lower toe lift in SL compared to NL. Since low toe lift has been pointed out as one of the factors which increases the risk of a fall, it may be possible to identify from their gaits those subjects who are particularly in danger of falling during load carriage. Such gait patterns might be due to driving the push-off leg vigorously. Less
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