Citation

Sturnieks DL, Yak SL, Ratanapongleka M, Lord SR, Menant JC. Exp. Gerontol. 2018; 106: 192-197.

Affiliation

Falls, Balance and Injury Research Centre, Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia; School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: j.menant@neura.edu.au.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.exger.2018.03.009

PMID

29544910

Abstract

Fatigue is a common complaint in older people. Laboratory-induced muscle fatigue has been found to affect physical functions in older populations but these protocols are rigorous and are unlikely to accurately reflect daily activities. This study used an ecological approach to determine the effects of a busy day on self-reported fatigue and fall-related measures of physical and cognitive function in older people. Fifty community-dwelling adult volunteers, aged 60-88 (mean 73) years participated in this randomised crossover trial. Participants undertook assessments of balance, strength, sensation, gait, mobility, cognitive function and self-reported fatigue, before and after a planned rest day and a planned busy day (randomly allocated) at least one week apart. Participants wore an activity monitor on both the rest and busy days. On average, participants undertook twice as many steps and 2.5 times more minutes of activity on the busy, compared with the rest day. Participants had a significant increase in self-reported fatigue on the afternoon of the busy day and no change on the rest day. Repeated measures ANOVAs found no significant day (rest/busy) × time (am/pm) interaction effects, except for the timed up and go test of mobility, resulting from relatively improved mobility performance over the rest day, compared with the busy day. This study showed few effects of a busy day on physical and cognitive performance tests associated with falls in older people.

Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Language: en

Keywords

Accidental falls; Balance; Cognition; Fatigue; Functional performance