Age and gender differences in seven tests of functional mobility

Annie A Butler,Stephen R Lord,Jasmine C Menant,Anne C Tiedemann

doi:10.1186/1743-0003-6-31

Annie A Butler, Stephen R Lord + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-0003-6-31

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Abstract

BackgroundThe objective of this study was to examine age and gender differences in seven tests of functional mobility.MethodsThe study included 50 young participants aged 20 to 39 years, and 684 older participants aged 75 to 98 years. Functional mobility measures included the coordinated stability test, the near tandem balance test, the six metre walk test, the sit to stand test with five repetitions, the alternate step test and the stair ascent and descent tests.ResultsOlder participants performed significantly worse than the younger participants in all of the functional mobility tests (p < 0.001), with the older women performing worse than the older men in all of the tests (p < 0.05). Significant correlations were found within the older group among all the functional mobility tests scores (r = 0.24–0.87, p < 0.001), and between functional mobility performance and age (r = 0.14–0.35, p < 0.001). People with arthritis and stroke performed worse than people without these conditions in these tests.ConclusionThis study provides a normative database for performance of young and older community-dwelling people in a battery of validated and reliable functional mobility tests. The results confirm age-related differences in functional mobility between young and older adults.

Highlights

The objective of this study was to examine age and gender differences in seven tests of functional mobility
Gait speed slows with age [6,7] and the ageing process contributes to declines in stair negotiation ability [8] and lower limb strength [9]
Test-retest reliability According to the criteria of Shrout and Fleiss [16], the ICC3,1 values determined from the older sample indicated excellent reliability for the sit to stand test (0.89, 95% CI = 0.79, 0.95), the coordinated stability test (0.83, 95% CI = 0.70, 0.91), the alternate step test (0.78, 95% CI = 0.59, 0.89), the stair ascent test (0.84, 95% CI = 0.69, 0.92) and the stair descent test (0.86, 95% CI = 0.74, 0.93)

Summary

Introduction

The objective of this study was to examine age and gender differences in seven tests of functional mobility. Mobility tests are commonly used to assess function and frailty in older populations Many of these tests are used with younger adults as measures of physical fitness and general health; there are little data available on the age-related changes in the performance of these tests. Gait speed slows with age [6,7] and the ageing process contributes to declines in stair negotiation ability [8] and lower limb strength [9] These age-related changes in the performance of functional mobility measures and physiological domains are associated with an increased risk of falls, ongoing disability and admission into residential aged care [10].

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