Search results for "Preferred walking speed"
showing 10 items of 110 documents
Longitudinal changes in genetic and environmental influences on older women's walking ability
2009
This study examined the stability and change over time in genetic and environmental influences on walking ability among older women. Maximal walking speed over 10 m and 6-min walking endurance test were measured under standard conditions at baseline and 3 years later. At both times, 63 monozygotic (MZ) and 67 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs were measured for walking speed and 58 MZ and 56 DZ pairs for walking endurance. Participants were twin sisters reared together and aged 63-75 years at baseline. Genetic and environmental influences were examined using longitudinal genetic modelling. The results showed that walking speed was preserved from baseline to follow-up. Genetic influences on walking s…
Fear of Moving Outdoors and Development of Outdoor Walking Difficulty in Older People
2009
OBJECTIVES: To study which individual characteristics and environmental factors correlate with fear of moving outdoors and whether fear of moving outdoors predicts development of mobility limitation. DESIGN: Observational prospective cohort study and cross-sectional analyses. SETTING: Community and research center. PARTICIPANTS: Seven hundred twenty-seven community-living people aged 75 to 81 were interviewed at baseline, of whom 314 took part in a 3.5-year follow-up. MEASUREMENTS: Fear of moving outdoors and its potential individual and environmental correlates were assessed at baseline. Perceived difficulties in walking 0.5 km and 2 km were assessed twice a year over a 3.5-year period. RE…
Effect of co-morbidity on the association of high body mass index with walking limitation among men and women aged 55 years and older.
2007
Background and aims: Obesity among older persons is rapidly increasing, thus affecting their mobility negatively. The aim of this study was to examine the association of high body mass index (BMI) with walking limitation, and the effect of obesity-related diseases on this association. Methods: In a representative sample of the Finnish population of 55 years and older (2055 women and 1337 men), maximal walking speed, chronic diseases, and BMI were ascertained in a health examination. Walking limitation was defined as maximal walking speed of less than 1.2 m/s or difficulty in walking 500 meters. To analyze the effects of chronic conditions, smoking, marital status, and education on BMI class…
Assessing physical performance and physical activity in large population-based aging studies: home-based assessments or visits to the research center?
2019
Abstract Background The current study aims to compare correlations between a range of measures of physical performance and physical activity assessing the same underlying construct in different settings, that is, in a home versus a highly standardized setting of the research center or accelerometer recording. We also evaluated the selective attrition of participants related to these different settings and how selective attrition affects the associations between variables and indicators of health, functioning and overall activity. Methods Cross-sectional analyses comprising population-based samples of people aged 75, 80, and 85 years living independently in Jyväskylä, Finland. The AGNES stud…
Estimation of the risk of the frailty syndrome in the independent-living population of older people.
2019
Frailty syndrome (FS) is one of the biggest problems faced by an ageing population. The aim of the study was to analyse selected parameters to assess the possibility of FS or symptoms related to this syndrome among independent and subjectively healthy people aged 60 + years and to select tests that may have a high level of diagnostic success while at the same time being easy to conduct, standardised and have a high level of reliability. The study group consisted of 1006 people aged 60 + years and the research protocol was very extensive, focusing on the broadly understood assessment of the functional biological markers of health in this group of people. The main outcome measures were hand-g…
Sleep-Related Factors and Mobility in Older Men and Women
2010
SHORT and long sleep duration, sleep-related disturbances, and their daytime consequences are common in older adults, and they are associated with decreased health and increased mortality (1–4). Because aging is associated with decline in physical performance often leading to physical disability and loss of independence, concomitant sleep problems may exacerbate the age-related decline in physical function. Previous studies suggest that self-reported and measured insomnia and sleep-related problems are associated with decline in psychomotor performance (5) as well as with poor balance and increased risk of falls (6–8). In addition, Goldman and coworkers (2007) (9) reported that short (<6 ho…
Effects of comprehensive geriatric intervention on physical performance among people aged 75 years and over.
2012
Background and aims: We studied the effects of comprehensive geriatric assessment and multifactorial intervention on physical performance among older people. Methods: In a 3-year geriatric development project with an experimental design, 668 participants aged 75–98 were assigned to intervention (n=348) or control (n=320) groups. The intervention group received comprehensive geriatric assessment with an individually targeted intervention for 2 years. The outcome measures—performance in the Timed Up-and-Go (TUG), 10-meter walking and Berg Balance Scale tests 2 were gathered annually during the intervention and the 1-year follow-up after it. Results: With linear mixed models, over the 2-year i…
Maintenance of high quality of life as an indicator of resilience during COVID-19 social distancing among community-dwelling older adults in Finland
2021
Abstract Purpose Social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic reduced possibilities for activities of choice potentially threatening quality of life (QoL). We defined QoL resilience as maintaining high quality of life and studied whether walking speed, absence of loneliness, living arrangement, and stress-coping ability predict QoL resilience among older people. Methods Community-dwelling 75-, 80-, and 85-year-old persons (n = 685) were interviewed and examined in 2017–2018 and were followed up during COVID-19 social distancing in 2020. We assessed QoL using the OPQOL-brief scale and set a cut-off for ‘constant high’ based on staying in the highest baseline quartile over the follow-up and…
Quality of Life and Barriers in the Urban Outdoor Environment in Old Age
2010
OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between barriers in the outdoor environment and perceived quality of life (QoL) in old age and to assess whether fear of moving outdoors and unmet physical activity need contribute to this association. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Community and research center. PARTICIPANTS: Five hundred eighty-nine, community-dwelling people aged 75 to 81 took part in face-to-face home-interviews and examinations in the research center. MEASUREMENTS: QoL was assessed using the LEIPAD questionnaire. Environmental barriers were studied based on self-reports of lack of resting places or long distances (distances), noisy traffic or dangerous crossroads (traffic), and…
Physical performance in relation to menopause status and physical activity
2018
Objective: The aim of this study was to examine differences in physical performance (muscle power, muscle strength, aerobic capacity, and walking speed) across menopausal stages and potential of leisure physical activity (PA) to modify the impact of menopause on physical performance. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, women aged 47 to 55 were randomly selected from the Finnish National Registry and categorized as premenopausal (n ¼ 233), perimenopausal (n ¼ 381), or postmenopausal (n ¼ 299) based on serum concentrations of follicle-stimulating hormone and bleeding diary. Physical performance was measured by knee extension force, handgrip force, vertical jumping height, maximal walking …