Anastasios Georgantas, Panagiota Stefani, Epameinondas Lyros, Dimitrios Chytas, Anna Christakou

Purpose:

To compare motor performance between four cognitive-motor DT activities in community-dwelling older adults, using the TUG test.

Methods:

The sample consisted of 60 elderly healthy women, aged 72.22 years (SD=5.11). Functional lower limb muscle strength was assessed with the “30-Second Chair Stand Test”, dynamic balance with the “Four Square Step Test” and balance confidence with the “Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale”. The four cognitive tests were: (a) mental calculation (counting down by 3), (b) memory recall (memorizing and recalling a list of products), (c) verbal fluency (producing and recalling words from a specific letter), (d) verbal reaction to a stimulus. The TUG test was performed as a single activity and then the cognitive tests were performed simultaneously with the TUG. To assess motor performance, the time to complete each test was recorded and the dual task cost (DTC, %) was calculated. Paired t-tests between the participant’s characteristics, the TUG tests and the DTCs were performed. The TUG tests were correlated with each other and with the characteristics of muscle strength, balance and balance confidence using Pearson r correlations.

Results:

There were statistical significant differences between participant’s characteristics and DTCs (p.001). The main results of the present study were that the mental calculation (r=.63, p.01) and verbal fluency (r=.65, p.01) tasks showed similar positive statistical significant correlation with the TUG test and they affected the motor performance more than all DT tests. The reaction to the stimulus test showed a high relationship with the TUG test (r=.89, p.01) and it was least detrimental to the motor performance.

Conclusion(s):

The motor performance of older adults in DT activities depends on the type of cognitive task. Future studies with a larger sample, including also male population, should more effectively assess the performance of both motor and cognitive tasks in order to validate these results.

Implications:

The present findings highlight the challenges that older adults face in managing mobility during DT activities, reflecting real-life difficulties in performing multiple tasks. The addition of a cognitive load to the TUG test may enhance its ability to identify community-dwelling older adults who are at higher risk for falls by capturing the complex interplay between cognitive and motor functions. This approach may improve fall risk assessments and provide insights into how cognitive demands impact motor performance. As a result, it may serve as a valuable clinical tool for developing targeted interventions that address both cognitive and motor challenges to better prevent falls.

Funding acknowledgements:

This research received no external funding.

Keywords:

Dual-task
Timed Up and Go
community-dwelling older adults

Primary topic:

Older people

Second topic:

Musculoskeletal: lower limb

Did this work require ethics approval?:

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