Citation

Grenier S, Richard-Devantoy S, Nadeau A, Payette MC, Benyebdri F, Duhaime MB, Gunther B, Beauchet O. Maturitas 2018; 110: 18-20.

Affiliation

Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine, Sir Mortimer B. Davis- Jewish General Hospital and Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, McGill University, 3755 Côte-Sainte-Catherine Road, Montreal, Quebec, H3T 1E2, Canada; Dr. Joseph Kaufmann Chair in Geriatric Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, 3655 Sir William Osler, Montreal, Quebec, H3G 1Y6, Canada; Centre of Excellence on Longevity, McGill University, 3755 Côte-Ste-Catherine Road, E-0012, Montreal, Quebec, H3T 1E2, Canada. Electronic address: olivier.beauchet@mcgill.ca.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.maturitas.2018.01.001

PMID

29563030

Abstract

We investigated the association between fear of falling (FoF) and motor imagery (MI) abilities in older people. Cross-sectional data from 3552 French older adults were used to conduct a multiple linear regression analysis looking at the association between FoF and MI abilities after controlling for several factors (e.g. gender, age, history of falls). MI abilities were significantly lower in older adults reporting a FoF compared with those without this fear. The presence of lower MI abilities, reflecting deficits in gait control, may explain why older people with a FoF are at higher risk of falling.

Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Community-dwelling older adults; Falls; Fear of falling (FoF); Motor imagery (MI); Timed up and go (TUG)