2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Related investigation with elderly people's trunk posture and quality of gait(step length and gait speed), and development study of gait instruction

Research Project

Project/Area Number	23700604
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Rehabilitation science/Welfare engineering
Research Institution	Kochi University
Principal Investigator	ENOKI HAYATO 高知大学, 医学部附属病院, 理学療法士 (40598538)
Project Period (FY)	2011 – 2013
Keywords	高齢者 / 立位姿勢 / 脊柱可動性 / 歩行
Research Abstract	We investigated the relationship between quality of gait and trunk posture and its mobility in community-dwelling elderly person 60 years old or older. Furthermore, we examined immediate effect of gait instruction to elderly persons. As a result it was suggested that prevention of kyphosis and mobility of trunk extension was related to gait ability. And the simple and easy gait instruction in the concrete, "Please walk at somewhat make a step large, and contact from heel." and "Please walk at stretch of breast, straighten the back, and Turn to a front.", brought about the improvement of quality of gait in about 60% of the elderly. Intervention of stretching exercise of trunk by means of pamphlet distribution twice a year was performed. Therefore it has turned out that elderly persons who performed exercise more than once a week showed the tendency to become more wide-step, compared with those who did not exercise. However, there was no prominent effect.