Trunk Control, Balance, Gait, Functional Mobility and Fear of Falling in People With Alzheimer's Disease

Summary

The purposes of this study were to investigate the relationship between trunk control and balance, gait, functional mobility, and fear of falling in people with Alzheimer's disease and to compare trunk control, balance, gait, functional mobility, and fear of falling in people with Alzheimer's disease and healthy older adults.

Balance, an essential motor skill necessary to perform both static and dynamic everyday activities with stability and security, is impaired in people with Alzheimer's disease when compared to cognitively preserved elderlies. Gait and functional mobility disorders are also observed in people with Alzheimer's disease from the early period of the disease. People with Alzheimer's disease tend to fall more often and are more seriously injured from falls than cognitively intact older adults. The annual incidence rate for falling is 60% to 80% for older adults with Alzheimer's disease, over twice the incidence of age-matched cognitively intact older adults.

Trunk control is shown among the most important factors that ensure the balance and walking of the individual in different environments and conditions during functional activities. Optimal trunk control relies on adequate somatosensory, motor, and musculoskeletal systems, which are frequently compromised in people with Alzheimer's disease. For this reason, the investigators think that trunk control may be affected in people with Alzheimer's disease compared to healthy older adults and may be related to balance, gait, functional mobility and fear of falling.

Conditions

• Physical Therapy

Interventions

OTHER

Balance

Balance was evaluated with Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Functional Reach Test (FRT), One Leg Stance Test (OLST) and Five-Repeat Sit-and-Stand Test (5STS). BBS consists of 14 functional tasks of increasing difficulty, each scored on a scale ranging from 0 to 4. The maximum possible score is 56, indicating no identifiable balance difficulties. FRT measures the maximum distance that participants can reach forward with their dominant arm raised to 90 degrees without moving their feet, which were positioned 10 cm apart. OLST measures the time one is able to stand on one lower limb without support. The test was repeated for both sides. 5STS assesses the time it takes to get up and sit from the chair five times. Measurements were repeated 3 times and the average duration was calculated as a patient score.

OTHER

Trunk control

Trunk control was evaluated with Trunk Impairment Scale (TIS).TIS evaluates static sitting balance, dynamic sitting balance, and trunk coordination on a scale from 0 to 23 points, a higher score indicating a better performance.

OTHER

Gait

Gait was evaluated with Dynamic Gait Index (DGI). DGI has 8 items: walking, walking while changing speed, walking while turning the head horizontally and vertically, walking with pivot turn, walking over and around obstacles, and stair climbing. The scoring of the DGI is based on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 to 3, with 0 indicating severe impairment and 3 indicating normal ability. The best performance total score is 24. A low composite DGI score indicates greater impairment in gait.

OTHER

Functional mobility

Functional mobility was evaluated with Timed Up and Go Test (TUG). TUG is a test of the time required for an individual to stand up from a chair with armrests, walk 3 m, turn, walk back to the chair, and sit down. The stopwatch timing started when the participant's bottom left the chair and ended when the bottom made contact with the chair after the walk.

OTHER

Fear of falling

Fear of falling was evaluated with the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I). FES-I was used to assess the level of concern about falls during 16 activities of daily living, ranging from basic to more demanding activities including social activities that may contribute to quality of life. It was administered as a self-report questionnaire.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Ankara Yildirim Beyazıt University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Taskin Ozkan, Doctorate · Giresun University Vocational School of Health Services Therapy and Rehabilitation Department

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SCREENING

Masking

NONE

Model

FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

40 Years

Max Age

85 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-12-01

Primary Completion

2022-05-01

Completion

2022-06-01

Countries

• Turkey (Türkiye)

Study Locations