Balance, gait, functionality and strength: comparison between elderly fallers and non-fallers

Accidental falls are a major health problem related to aging and affect one in every three elderly individuals over the age of sixty. To evaluate and compare the muscle strength, gait kinematics parameters, and performance in functional tests between elderly subjects with and without a prior history of falls. In addition, the association between the history of falls and the variables that demonstrated differences between groups were tested. 62 elderly subjects participated in the study and were allocated to the group with falls history (FG; n=20; 68.0 ± 6.9 years old) or the group without falls history (CG; n=42; 65.5 ± 4.1 years old). Maximal strength, gait kinematics parameters, and functional tests were tested. The FG showed lower muscle strength in the knee flexors (51.45 ± 8.6 vs. 62.09 ± 19 Kg), lower average toe clearance during the swing phase (0.04 ± 0.006 vs. 0.043 ± 0.005 m), and lower performance in the "8-foot up-and-go" test (5.3 ± 0.7 vs. 5.8 ± 0.7 s) (p