Spatio-Temporal Gait Parameters in Association with Medications and Risk of Falls in the Elderly

Figures & data

Table 1 Participants’ Characteristics, Divided by Gender

	Females (n=156)		Males (n=54)		p	All (n=210)
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD		Mean	SD
Mean age (years)	72.94	5.92	73.07	6.18	0.935	72.84	6.26
Mean weight (kg)	76.64	15.42	85.69	13.30	0.000*	78.96	15.39
Mean height (cm)	159.99	6.77	173.26	6.08	0.000*	163.40	8.78
Mean BMI (kg/m^2)	29.95	5.85	28.57	4.31	0.216	29.60	5.52
Number of medications	1.65	1.11	1.09	0.83	0.001*	1.50	1.07
Downton Fall Risk Index	2.21	1.34	1.96	1.45	0.150	2.14	1.37

Note: *Statistically significant difference.

Table 2 Gait Parameters Stratified by History of Falls, Multiple Medication, Gender, and Age

			Age (years)	Number of Medications	BMI (kg/m^2)	Downton Fall Risk Index	Velocity (km/h)	Foot Rotation (Degree)	Step Length (cm)	Step Length/Height (%)	Step Width (cm)	Cadence (Steps/min)	Stance Phase (%)	Double-Stance Phase (%)	Swing Phase (%)
History of falls	Non-fallers (n=122)	Mean	72.97	1.50	29.16	1.69	3.52	9.66	53.54	0.33	11.96	108.76	64.40	28.75	35.60
		SD	6.14	1.05	5.32	1.07	0.89	7.01	10.25	0.06	3.73	13.13	3.35	5.75	3.35
	Fallers (n=82)	Mean	73.01	1.59	30.41	2.95	3.24	8.98	50.55	0.31	12.03	105.04	65.05	30.38	34.95
		SD	5.90	1.07	5.83	1.39	1.02	6.51	11.02	0.07	3.80	15.64	4.24	7.23	4.24
	Mann–Whitney U		4923	4703	4414	2297.5	4186.5	4517	4145	4264	4926.5	4290	4405.5	4308.5	4405.5
	p-Value		0.849	0.470	0.155	0.000*	0.072	0.324	0.058	0.108	0.856	0.123	0.208	0.134	0.208
Medication	Participants taking no drugs (n=32)	Mean	69.84^c	0.00^c	28.73^c	0.97^bc	3.67^c	9.27	56.27^c	0.34^c	11.95	109.28	64.42	28.37	35.59
		SD	5.66	0.00	5.12	0.86	0.85	5.79	10.23	0.06	3.26	11.75	2.16	3.55	2.16
	Participants taking one drug (n=86)	Mean	72.43^c	1.00^c	27.98^c	1.94^ac	3.71^c	8.21	55.26^c	0.34^c	11.33	110.46^c	63.39^c	27.16^c	36.61^c
		SD	5.96	0.00	4.71	1.02	0.86	6.87	9.42	0.06	3.58	12.98	3.02	4.60	3.02
	Participants taking 2+ drugs (n=92)	Mean	74.57^ab	2.50^ab	31.41^ab	2.74^ab	3.04^ab	10.32	48.19^ab	0.30 ^ab	12.59	103.72^b	65.92^b	31.76^b	34.08^b
		SD	5.63	0.76	5.86	1.49	0.93	6.93	10.28	0.06	3.96	15.34	4.24	7.59	4.24
	Kruskal–Wallis H		17.859	194.706	17.401	44.628	23.632	5.581	21.693	10.176	3.559	10.176	15.982	21.819	15.982
	p-Value		0.000*	0.000*	0.000*	0.000*	0.000*	0.061	0.000*	0.006*	0.169	0.006*	0.000*	0.000*	0.000*
Gender	Females (n=156)	Mean	72.936	1.647	29.95	2.21	3.42	8.70	51.89	0.32	11.36	108.76	64.81	29.61	35.19
		SD	5.924	1.106	5.85	1.34	1.00	6.94	10.81	0.06	3.75	14.20	4.06	6.79	4.06
	Males (n=54)	Mean	73.074	1.092	28.57	1.96	3.39	11.01	53.55	0.31	13.73	103.17	64.18	28.60	35.82
		SD	6.179	0.830	4.31	1.45	0.78	6.06	9.69	0.06	3.11	13.54	2.24	4.81	2.24
	Mann–Whitney U		4180	3023	3735	3658	4062	3302.5	3810	3462	2550.5	3245.5	4010.5	3849	4010.5
	p-Value		0.935	0.001*	0.216	0.15	0.905	0.033*	0.432	0.088	0.000*	0.023*	0.799	0.495	0.799
Age	60–69 years (n=62)	Mean	66.45^ef	1.16^ef	28.87	1.82^f	3.99^ef	8.50	58.26^ef	0.35^ef	11.50	113.30^ef	63.50^f	26.89	36.50^f
		SD	2.08	0.98	4.84	0.92	0.74	5.77	8.17	0.05	3.45	12.06	2.38	3.39	2.38
	70–79 years (n=118)	Mean	73.74^df	1.63^d	30.17	2.13^f	3.30^df	9.57	51.54^df	0.32^df	12.00	105.75^d	64.74	29.54	35.26
		SD	2.81	1.10	6.02	1.52	0.89	6.79	10.16	0.06	3.87	13.64	3.26	6.18	3.26
	80+ years (n=30)	Mean	83.43^de	1.73^d	28.87	2.87^de	2.67^de	9.77	43.47^de	0.27^de	12.82	101.64^d	66.58	33.54	33.42
		SD	3.16	0.98	4.58	1.33	0.88	8.55	9.12	0.06	3.73	16.66	6.03^d	8.89	6.03^d
	Kruskal–Wallis H		166.48	10.959	1.599	12.402	41.808	2.719	42.546	36.402	2.485	14.622	14.623	3849	14.623
	p-Value		0.000*	0.004*	0.450	0.002*	0.000*	0.257	0.000*	0.000*	0.289	0.001*	0.001*	0.495	0.001*

Notes: *Statistically significant difference. Statistically significant difference from participants taking no drugs; ^bstatistically significant difference from participants taking one drug; ^cstatistically significant difference from participants taking 2+ drugs; ^dstatistically significant difference from 60–69 years; ^estatistically significant difference from 70–79 years; ^fstatistically significant difference from 80+ years.

Table 3 Comparison of Downton Fall Risk Index and Gait Parameters in Five Categories of Medication

		Downton Fall Risk Index	Gait Velocity (km/h)	Foot Rotation (°)	Step Length (cm)	Step Width (cm)	Cadence (Steps/min)	Stance Phase (%)	Double-Stance Phase (%)	Swing Phase (%)
None (n=32)	Mean	0.94^bcd	3.69^CD	9.34	56.67^cd	12.11	109.21	64.32	28.25	35.68
	SD	0.85	0.85	5.87	10.15	3.18	11.94	2.12	3.54	2.12
Cardiovascular (n=126)	Mean	2.52^ac	3.26	10.35	50.67	12.45	106.06	65.17	30.46	34.83
	SD	1.33	0.98	7.02	10.98	3.98	15.29	4.06	7.23	4.06
Psychotropic (n=34)	Mean	3.56^abe	2.85^a	9.38	46.42^a	12.93	99.06	66.15	32.54	33.85
	SD	1.67	1.09	6.66	11.28	4.02	17.47	4.47	8.42	4.47
Diabetes (n=23)	Mean	2.57^a	2.80^a	12.43	44.11^a	14.11	105.10	66.99	33.48	33.01
	SD	1.27	0.81	7.32	10.15	4.52	13.63	4.34	7.76	4.34
Thyroid function (n=21)	Mean	1.95^c	3.49	8.38	52.23	11.62	109.85	64.49	28.87	35.51
	SD	0.97	0.92	8.94	11.76	3.35	11.51	4.26	6.57	4.26
Kruskal–Wallis H		58.534	18.906	3.517	20.969	4.185	9.094	8.123	11.431	8.123
p		0000*	0.001*	0.475	0.000*	0.381	0.059	0.087	0.022	0.087

Notes: *Statistically significant difference. ^aStatistically significant difference from none; ^bstatistically significant difference from cardiovascular; ^cstatistically significant difference from psychotropic; ^dstatistically significant difference from diabetes; ^estatistically significant difference from thyroid function.

Figure 1 Downton Fall Risk Index. Score ranges from 0 to 11.³⁹

Figure 2 Downton Fall Risk Index grouped by medication categories.

Figure 3 Gait velocity grouped by medication categories.

Downton J. Falls in the Elderly. London: Edward Arnold; 1993:128–130.

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