Abstract
Background: The Geriatric Unit of the University of Palermo developed the “Passiata Day” model, a green exercise intervention consisting of a one-hour walk, once/week, in a city park. The purpose of this study was to assess body balance in older people who walked regularly compared to sedentary people. Methods: 106 older people (75 women and 31 men; mean age: 72.3 ± 8.2 years) without fall history were invited to participate voluntarily in this natural environment walking program. After six months, both the participants who had taken part regularly in the walk (i.e., the physical activity group (PAG; n = 72; 54 women and 18 men; mean age: 70.7 ± 7.2 years)), and who had not accepted to be included in the outdoor walking program (i.e., the sedentary group (SG; n = 34; 21 women and 13 men; mean age: 75.5 ± 9.4 years)), performed a stabilometric test with open eyes (OE) and with closed eyes (CE). Results: Our preliminary results showed significant differences between groups on the ellipse sway area both in the OE (p < 0.05) and in CE condition (p < 0.01). Moreover, we found a significant difference on sway along the frontal plane both in the OE (p < 0.05) and in the CE condition (p < 0.01), and on sway along the sagittal plane for the test with CE (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Based on our preliminary findings, we suggest that walking regularly in an outdoor setting could lead to a greater body balance in older people and could be recommended by geriatricians for preventing the risk of falls. The next step will be to investigate the effect of an experimental outdoor walking program structured in terms of intensity, frequency and volume.
Highlights
Falls, defined as the events in which people inadvertently lose vertical status coming down to rest on the ground, represent the second highest cause of death in the world among incidents and are an important problem for older people [1,2]
Namely the ability to control the displacement of the body’s center of mass (CoM), depends on the interaction of information from these organs integrated by the central nervous system (CNS), the physiological decline as well as the pathological conditions of one or more of these systems produces a substantial alteration of static body balance, dynamic postural control and gait patterns, causing a high risk of falls, in older individuals [7,8,9]
Significant differences between groups were found on CoP coordinates along the frontal plane both with open eyes (OE) and in closed eyes (CE) (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01 respectively), and on CoP coordinates along the sagittal planes for the evaluation with CE (p < 0.01), the main finding of the present study was that PAG showed a significant difference on the ellipse sway area in the test with OE (p < 0.05) as well as for the CE condition test (p < 0.01) compared to the sedentary group
Summary
Falls, defined as the events in which people inadvertently lose vertical status coming down to rest on the ground, represent the second highest cause of death in the world among incidents and are an important problem for older people [1,2]. The scientific literature reported that fall-related risk factors in older people can be classified into intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The latter regard the environmental conditions as lighting, the floor and the type of footwear [4]. Methods: 106 older people (75 women and 31 men; mean age: 72.3 ± 8.2 years) without fall history were invited to participate voluntarily in this natural environment walking program After six months, both the participants who had taken part regularly in the walk (i.e., the physical activity group (PAG; n = 72; 54 women and 18 men; mean age: 70.7 ± 7.2 years)), and who had not accepted to be included in the outdoor walking program (i.e., the sedentary group (SG; n = 34; 21 women and 13 men; mean age: 75.5 ± 9.4 years)), performed a stabilometric test with open eyes (OE) and with closed eyes (CE). The step will be to investigate the effect of an experimental outdoor walking program structured in terms of intensity, frequency and volume
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