Mobility and balance and their correlation with physiological factors in elderly with different foot postures

• Main Authors: Bukry, S.A (Author), Justine, M. (Author), Manaf, H. (Author), Mohd Said, A. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2015
• Subjects: adult; aged; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; anthropometric parameters; Article; body equilibrium; body height; body mass; body posture; body weight; Body Weight; clinical article; cross-sectional study; endurance; female; Female; foot; Foot; gait; human; Humans; Lower Extremity; lower limb; male; Male; mobilization; Movement; movement (physiology); muscle contraction; muscle function; Muscle, Skeletal; observational study; pathophysiology; physical activity; physiology; Postural Balance; Posture; skeletal muscle; strength; very elderly
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher; View in Scopus
• ISBN: 23146133 (ISSN)
• DOI: 10.1155/2015/385269

This study determines (1) the correlation between mobility and balance performances with physiological factors and (2) the relationship between foot postures with anthropometric characteristics and lower limb characteristics among elderly with neutral, pronated, and supinated foot. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted in community-dwelling elderly (age: 69.86 ± 5.62 years). Participants were grouped into neutral (n = 16), pronated (n = 14), and supinated (n = 14) foot based on the foot posture index classification. Anthropometric data (height, weight, and BMI), lower limb strength (5-STS) and endurance (30 s chair rise test), mobility (TUG), and balance (FSST) were determined. Data were analyzed using Spearman's correlation coefficient. Body weight was negatively and moderately correlated (r s = - 0.552, P < 0.05) with mobility in supinated foot; moderate-to-high positive linear rank correlation was found between lower limb strength and mobility (r s = 0.551 to 0.804, P < 0.05) for pronated and neutral foot. Lower limb endurance was negatively and linearly correlated with mobility in pronated (r s = - 0.699) and neutral (r s = - 0.573) foot. No correlation was observed in balance performance with physiological factors in any of the foot postures. We can conclude that muscle function may be the most important feature to make movement possible in older persons regardless of the type of foot postures. © 2015 Aisyah Mohd Said et al.