Interaction between cognitive status, fear of falling, and balance in elderly persons

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the cognitive function and its relationship with balance, history of falls, and fear of falling in the elderly. METHODS: We evaluated 250 elderly persons aged at least 60 years, who answered a sociodemographic questionnaire about the occurrence of falls in the last year. The cognitive function, balance, and fear of falling were assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and Falls Efficacy Scale (FES-I) scores, respectively. Participants were allocated into two groups based on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score, the Group with Possible Cognitive Decline (GPCD) and the group with no cognitive decline (GNCD). We performed Student's t-test and Pearson's correlation for independent samples. RESULTS: The Group with Possible Cognitive Decline (GPCD) showed lower balance (p=0.003) and greater fear of falling (p=0.008) (BBS=50.98±4.68; FES-I=26.06±8.78) compared to the GNCD (BBS=52.53±3.047; FES-I=23.21±7.74). CONCLUSION: Elderly persons with cognitive decline have lower balance, greater fear of falling, and greater recurrence of falls.

Análise do equilíbrio corporal em idosos classificados em diferentes faixas etárias através da posturografia dinâmica computadorizada (PDC) / Body balance analysis in elderly classified into different age groups using computerized dynamic posturography (CDP) / Análisis del equilibrio corporal en personas de edad avanzada clasificadas en diferentes grupos de edad utilizando la posturografía dinámica computarizada (PDC)

O presente estudo teve como objetivo avaliar o equilíbrio corporal entre idosos categorizados em três faixas etárias, idosos jovens (60-69 anos), idosos (70-79 anos), e idosos mais velhos (acima de 80 anos). A avaliação constou de variáveis antropométricas e posturografia dinâmica computadorizada (PDC) com uma amostra total de 105 sujeitos. Para a análise das variáveis quantitativas utilizou-se a estatística descritiva de média e desvio-padrão e o teste de Kruskal Wallis com intervalo de confiança de 95%. Os resultados demonstraram que idosos acima de 80 anos obtiveram melhor resultado no tempo de latência (99,111mseg) quando comparados aos mais jovens (133,403mseg para idosos entre 60-69 anos e 135,282msg entre 70-79 anos). No entanto, os idosos mais jovens conseguiram preservar melhor o equilíbrio corporal geral no teste de organização sensorial (percentual de 71,368 para idosos entre 60-69 anos; 67,950 entre 70-79 anos e 68,555 para idosos com mais de 80).

The objective of this study was to evaluate the body balance among the elderly categorized in three age groups: young elderly (60-69 years), elderly (70-79 years) and the older elderly (80 years and older). The evaluation consisted of anthropometric variables and computerized dynamic posturography (CDP) with a total sample of 105 subjects. For the analysis of the quantitative variables, we used the descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation and the Kruskal Wallis test with 95% confidence interval. The results showed that older elderly had a better latency time (99.111 msec) when compared to younger ones (133,403 msec for the elderly between 60-69 years and 135,282 msec between 70-79 years). However, younger elderly were able to better preserve the general body balance in the sensory organization test (71.368 percent for the elderly between 60-69 years, 67.950 between 70-79 years and 68.555 for the elderly with more than 80).

Este estudio tuvo como objetivo evaluar el equilibrio entre el cuerpo de los ancianos categorizados en tres grupos de edad: jóvenes de edad (60-69 años de edad), los de edad avanzada (70-79 años) y las personas mayores de edad avanzada (mayores de 80 años). La evaluación consistió en variables antropométricas y se calculó posturografía dinámica (PDC) con una muestra total de 105 sujetos. Para el análisis de las variables cuantitativas se utilizó la estadística descriptiva de la media y la desviación estándar y la prueba de Kruskal Wallis, con un intervalo de confianza del 95%. Los resultados mostraron que los ancianos mayores de 80 tenían mejores resultados en el tiempo de latencia (99,111mseg) en comparación con los más jóvenes (60-69 133,403mseg para las personas mayores y 135,282msg em edades comprendidas entre los 70-79 años). Sin embargo, las personas mayores más jóvenes fueron capaces de conservar mejor el equilibrio general del cuerpo en la prueba de organización sensorial (porcentaje de 71,368 para el de 60-69 años, 70-79 años entre 67.950 y 68.555 para las personas mayores de 80).