Kinesiological study on the elderly gait viewed from the quality of life and the individual follow-up.

对健康老年人的步行方式进行了纵向研究，特别是从生活质量（QOL）方面进行了研究。日本老龄人口的快速增长，引发了老年人生活质量维持的问题。行走能力是健康独立生活的重要指标之一。该研究的长期目标是收集老年人步行的纵向信息，并阐明他们的步行方式与生活质量之间的关系。对52名健康老年人的自由步态进行了检查。所有受试者均为志愿者，知情集中，年龄在65岁以上，居住在日本石川县加贺社区地区。他们身体健康，足够活跃，可以自己去研究地点。年轻人的对照组由20名志愿学生组成。在两组中，女性和男性的比例相似。老年参与者被要求携带计步器一周，从第二天开始，以便计算他们每天的步数。健康的老年人比年轻人走得慢。他们的速度较慢主要是由于步幅较短。当参数以无量纲数的形式呈现时，仍然可以观察到差异。在老年组中观察到年龄和速度之间的负相关，直接测量或根据无量纲形式，以及年龄和步幅之间的负相关。在老年人中，每天的步数也与年龄呈负相关。日常活动会影响行走能力。老年组相对站位相持续时间与年龄呈正相关。老年人握力较弱，睁眼时单腿平衡能力较短。部分参数存在季节差异。我们需要未来的详细研究，以澄清这些差异。

Walking pattern of healthy elderly was longitudinally studied especially from the qaulity of life(QOL).The rapid increase in the number of aged people in Japan raises problems of maintenance of the QOL in the aged. Walking ability is one of the important parameters of healthy and independent living. The long-term goal of the study is to gather longitudinal information on walking in the elderly and to clarify the relationship between their walking patterns and their QOL. The free gait of fifty-two healthy elderly persons was examined. All the subjects were volunteers, informed concented, were aged 65 years or older, and dwelt in the Kaga community area, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. They were healthy and active enough to attend at the study location by themselves. The comparison group of young adults consisted of twenty volunteer students. The percentages of females and males were similar in the two groups. The elderly participants were requiredto carry a pedometer for a week, beginning the next day, in order to count their steps per day. The healthy elderly walked more slowly than the young adults. Their slower speed was largely caused by shorter stride length. Differences were still observed when parameters were presented in the form of dimensionless numbers. Negative correlations between age and speeds, as measured directly or interms of dimensionless forms, and between age and stride length were observed within the elderly group. The number of steps per day also correlated negatively with age within the elderly group. The daily activity could influence the walking ability. The relative stance phase duration correlated positively with age within the elderly group. The elderly were weaker in grip strength and had shorter single-leg balance with eyes open than the young adults. Seasonal differences were observed in some parameters. We need future detailed study in order to clarify the differnces.