TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2018//
TI  - Daily bicycling in older adults may be effective to reduce fall risks - a case control study
JO  - Journal of aging and physical activity
A1  - Batcir, Shani
A1  - Melzer, Itshak
SP  - 570
EP  - 576
VL  - 26
IS  - 4
N2  - 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.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1063-8652
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/japa.2017-0263
ID  - ref1
ER  -