Citation

Batcir S, Melzer I. J. Aging Phys. Act. 2018; 26(4): 570-576.

Affiliation

Schwartz Rehabilitation and Movement Analysis Laboratory, Physical Therapy Department, Recanati School for Community Health Professions, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Human Kinetics Publishers)

DOI

10.1123/japa.2017-0263

PMID

29345533

Abstract

Older adults gain many health benefits from riding bicycles regularly. We aimed to explore whether older persons who ride bicycles regularly have better balance than controls. Balance control and voluntary stepping were assessed in 20 older adults aged 65 to 85 who live in an agricultural community village who regularly ride bicycles (BR), and 30 age- and gender-matched non-bicycle riders (NBR). Self-reported function and fear of fall were also assessed. Bicycle riders showed significantly better balance, faster voluntary stepping, and better self-reported advanced lower extremity function compared with NBR. The results might suggest that bicycling regularly preserves balance control and speed of voluntary stepping in older adults because bicycling might maintain specific balance coordination patterns. The results should be treated with caution since BR were older adults who selected an active life style (i.e., bicycling as well as living in an agricultural village) that may bias the results.

Language: en

Keywords

Balance control; Observational study; late life function; postural stability; voluntary step execution