A Qualitative Review of Balance and Strength Performance in Healthy Older Adults: Impact for Testing and Training

Urs Granacher,Markus Gruber,Thomas Muehlbauer

doi:10.1155/2012/708905

Abstract

A continuously greying society is confronted with specific age-related health problems (e.g., increased fall incidence/injury rate) that threaten both the quality of life of fall-prone individuals as well as the long-term sustainability of the public health care system due to high treatment costs of fall-related injuries (e.g., femoral neck fracture). Thus, intense research efforts are needed from interdisciplinary fields (e.g., geriatrics, neurology, and exercise science) to (a) elucidate neuromuscular fall-risk factors, (b) develop and apply adequate fall-risk assessment tools that can be administered in clinical practice, and (c) develop and design effective intervention programs that have the potential to counteract a large number of fall-risk factors by ultimately reducing the number of falls in the healthy elderly. This paper makes an effort to present the above-raised research topics in order to provide clinicians, therapists, and practitioners with the current state-of-the-art information.

Highlights

Demographic change affects western industrialized countries in terms of large increases in the number of senior citizens [1]
A continuously greying society is confronted with specific age-related health problems that threaten both the quality of life of fall-prone individuals as well as the long-term sustainability of the public health care system due to high treatment costs of fall-related injuries
Intense research efforts are needed from interdisciplinary fields to (a) elucidate neuromuscular fall-risk factors, (b) develop and apply adequate fall-risk assessment tools that can be administered in clinical practice, and (c) develop and design effective intervention programs that have the potential to counteract a large number of fall-risk factors by reducing the number of falls in the healthy elderly

Summary

Introduction

Demographic change affects western industrialized countries in terms of large increases in the number of senior citizens [1]. The authors observed significantly smaller magnitudes in reflex activity of the prime mover compensating for the perturbation impulse and a tendency towards a higher level of coactivation in muscles encompassing the ankle joint (Figure 3) These inefficient balance strategies seem to make older adults more prone to falling compared to young adults. Hsiao-Wecksler et al [55] studied potential association between measures of steady-state and reactive balance in healthy young (mean age 25 years) and older adults (mean age 69 years) In both groups, significant associations were found between centre of pressure displacements during quiet stance and during mild perturbation. Granacher et al [15] examined whether there is a relationship between measures of isometric strength of the leg extensors and variables of reactive balance in young (mean age 27 years) and elderly healthy men (mean age 67 years). One-leg standing balance (i.e., static steady-state balance) and the ability to recover from gait perturbations (i.e., reactive balance) are not associated with measures of isometric strength

Resulting Consequences for the Assessment of Strength and Power

Resulting Consequences for the Assessment of Balance

Resulting Consequences for Strength and Power Training

Findings

Conclusions