Gait Variability: Epidemiology, Assessment & Management

简介(申请人提供)：Brach博士是一名物理治疗师，也是一名委员会认证的老年临床专家，他的目标是成为全国公认的行动能力和衰老研究领域的领先者。物理治疗师是检查和治疗影响活动能力的肌肉骨骼和神经肌肉问题的专家。因此，理疗师应该在治疗行动能力问题的多学科方法中发挥重要作用，并在旨在改善行动能力的研究中发挥关键作用。作为一名物理治疗师，Brach博士在评估和治疗行动不便问题方面发展了很强的技能，她在流行病学方面的培训使她在研究方法和基本统计技术方面有了坚实的基础。她现在寻求在纵向数据分析、高级步态分析(包括时间序列分析)和临床试验方法论方面进行额外的重点培训。作为拟议中的保罗·B·比森老龄事业发展奖的主要导师，斯蒂芬妮·斯图滕斯基博士本人是流动性和老龄研究的全国领先者，她将监督布拉赫博士的研究培训和职业发展，以成为老龄领域的独立研究员和领导者。她的研究计划和职业发展将由一个多学科团队监督，其中包括一名流行病学家/老年病学家、一名统计学家、一名生物工程师和一名物理治疗师。匹兹堡大学克劳德·D·佩珀OAIC的丰富资源也将用于她的支持和发展。 为了实现在老龄化和行动能力领域成为全国公认的领先者的目标，布拉赫博士设计了一系列三个研究项目，让她能够详细研究步态的可变性和适应性，这是行动能力的一个组成部分。在项目1中，布拉赫博士将使用心血管健康研究的既定数据集，在500多名老年人的双民族样本中，研究步态变异的影响因素和后果。由于许多老年人在低需求情况下测试时没有发现行动不便的问题，在项目2中，布拉赫博士将开发一种步态适应性的测量方法，以测试在高需求条件下行走的老年人。最后一个项目(项目3)将是一个小型随机对照试验，以检查运动干预措施，以改善老年人的步态可变性和适应性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Dr. Brach is a physical therapist and a board certified geriatric clinical specialist who aims to become a nationally-recognized leader in the field of mobility and aging research. Physical therapists are experts in the examination and treatment of musculoskeletal and neuromuscular problems that affect mobility. Therefore, physical therapists should play an important role in the multidisciplinary approach to treating mobility problems and should be key players in research aimed at improving mobility. As a physical therapist Dr. Brach has developed strong skills in the assessment and treatment of mobility problems, and her training in epidemiology has given her a strong foundation in research methods and basic statistical techniques. She now seeks additional focused training in longitudinal data analysis, advanced gait analysis (including time series analysis), and clinical trial methodology. As her primary mentor on the proposed Paul B. Beeson Career Development Award in Aging, Dr. Stephanie Studenski, herself a national leader in mobility and aging research, will supervise Dr. Brach's research training and career development towards becoming an independent investigator and leader in the field of aging. Her research program and career development will be overseen by a multi-disciplinary team including an Epidemiologist/Geriatrician, a Statistician, a Bioengineer, and a Physical Therapist. The rich resources of the University of Pittsburgh Claude D. Pepper OAIC will also be utilized for her support and development. In line with her goal of becoming a nationally recognized leader in the field of aging and mobility, Dr. Brach designed a series of three research projects that will allow her to examine in detail gait variability and adaptability, a component of mobility. In project 1, Dr. Brach will use an established dataset from the Cardiovascular Health Study to examine the contributors and consequences of gait variability in a biracial sample of over 500 older adults. Since many older adults with mobility problems are not identified when tested under low demand situations, in project 2 Dr. Brach will develop a measure of gait adaptability to test older persons walking under high demand conditions. The final project (project 3) will be a small RCT to examine exercise interventions to improve gait variability and adaptability in older persons.