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J. Tortella1, M. Cano Cappellacci2, F.J. Quinteros Briceño2
1Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Santiago, Chile, 2Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Medicina, Santiago, Chile
Background: According to the WHO, falls constitute a health problem of great proportions, particularly in the elderly population, becoming the second cause of death due to unintentional injuries worldwide. Although falls in the elderly population can lead to the death of the subject, it is necessary to clarify that most of them are not fatal, however, they generate significant levels of temporary and / or permanent disability.
About 30% of adults over the age of 65 experience one or more falls each year, which can lead to hospitalization and in some cases death. Although it is complex to determine which one or which of the intrinsic or extrinsic factors that are linked to the risk of falling, it is the most prevalent, it is clear that the ability to maintain balance in various contexts or against different stimuli is key at the time to limit the risk of falling.
About 30% of adults over the age of 65 experience one or more falls each year, which can lead to hospitalization and in some cases death. Although it is complex to determine which one or which of the intrinsic or extrinsic factors that are linked to the risk of falling, it is the most prevalent, it is clear that the ability to maintain balance in various contexts or against different stimuli is key at the time to limit the risk of falling.
Purpose: To assess the relationship of motor variability in elderly assessed through a dual contact platform with physical and cognitive test in elderly.
Methods: Associative study. 174 participants were recruited, and 23 subjects were excluded (musculoskeletal pain -9-, voluntary withdraw -7-, cognitive tests below threshold -4, others -3-).
Motor variability (MV) was assessed during the 2 minutes step in place test, where every double contact phase was measured in milliseconds (ms), exported to an Excel file and then standard deviation (SD) and root mean square successive differences (RMSSD) was calculated.
Physical tests consisted in Timed Up and Go (TUG), One leg stance (OLS), sit to stand 5 times (5StS), and handgrip strength (HGS).
Cognitive test applied to every subject were Minimental and clock drawing test.
This research was approved by the institutional ethics committee of East Metropolitan Health Service (Confirmed by Letter date June 25th 2019).
Motor variability (MV) was assessed during the 2 minutes step in place test, where every double contact phase was measured in milliseconds (ms), exported to an Excel file and then standard deviation (SD) and root mean square successive differences (RMSSD) was calculated.
Physical tests consisted in Timed Up and Go (TUG), One leg stance (OLS), sit to stand 5 times (5StS), and handgrip strength (HGS).
Cognitive test applied to every subject were Minimental and clock drawing test.
This research was approved by the institutional ethics committee of East Metropolitan Health Service (Confirmed by Letter date June 25th 2019).
Results: 151 subjects (70.5 ± 7.5 years old, BMI 27.6 ± 4.3 kg/m2, 80% women) were assessed. Every test will be expressed as median (P25-P75).
Motor variability (MV): SD was 479 (250-704) ms and RMSSD was 642 (334-932) ms.
Physical test: TUG: 6.8 (6.1-7.9) s; OLS: 9.0 (4.6-10.0) s; 5StS: 10.9 (9.1-12.6) s; HGS: 24.4 (20.2-30.1) kg.
Cognitive test: Minimental: 18 (17-19) points; Clock drawing test separated in Verbal part clock drawing test: 8.8 (7.4-10.0) points, Copy clock drawing test: 9.5 (8.5-10.0) points.
There was a significative correlation among SD-MV and Minimental (Rho=-0.246, p=0.002), Copy clock test (Rho=-0.256, p=0.002) and HGS (Rho=-0.226, p=0.005). Also there was a significative correlation among RMSSD-MV and Minimental (Rho=-0.256, p=0.002), Copy clock test (Rho=-0.254, p=0.002), HGS (Rho=-0.271, p=0.001) and TUG (Rho=0.209, p=0.010).
Motor variability (MV): SD was 479 (250-704) ms and RMSSD was 642 (334-932) ms.
Physical test: TUG: 6.8 (6.1-7.9) s; OLS: 9.0 (4.6-10.0) s; 5StS: 10.9 (9.1-12.6) s; HGS: 24.4 (20.2-30.1) kg.
Cognitive test: Minimental: 18 (17-19) points; Clock drawing test separated in Verbal part clock drawing test: 8.8 (7.4-10.0) points, Copy clock drawing test: 9.5 (8.5-10.0) points.
There was a significative correlation among SD-MV and Minimental (Rho=-0.246, p=0.002), Copy clock test (Rho=-0.256, p=0.002) and HGS (Rho=-0.226, p=0.005). Also there was a significative correlation among RMSSD-MV and Minimental (Rho=-0.256, p=0.002), Copy clock test (Rho=-0.254, p=0.002), HGS (Rho=-0.271, p=0.001) and TUG (Rho=0.209, p=0.010).
Conclusion(s): MV assessed through a dual contact time platform has several weak associations with physical and cognitive tests related to risk of fall in elderly population. It would be useful study MV with the same procedure in elderly population with higher risk of falling.
Implications: A research area about objective MV assessment is open to evaluate its utility for risk of falling screening that can be used in primary health and preventions programs on elderly.
Funding, acknowledgements: There was financial funding from DMLab to build the platforms and design the data recollecting application
Keywords: Motor variability, Functional test and aging, Risk of fall
Topic: Older people
Did this work require ethics approval? Yes
Institution: Servicio de Salud Metropolitano Oriente
Committee: Comité de Ética Científico del Servicio de Salud Metropolitano Oriente
Ethics number: Letter date June 25th 2019
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
