17th Meeting of the International Society for Posture and Gait Research, July 14

描述(由申请者提供)：该项目旨在支持一次国际跨学科研究会议，讨论平衡、步态和相关障碍的最新研究，并将其应用于康复和临床实践。会议将集中讨论四个具体主题：1)前庭机制；2)衰老；3)神经障碍；4)康复。对社会的意义在于，参与平衡和步态的神经/生物力学系统容易受到损伤和功能障碍，导致直立姿势控制不良，治疗选择有限。通过将研究平衡/步态和活动问题的学者聚集在一起，并专注于基础研究如何促进临床实践，将在理解和补救老年人和患者群体在运动行为方面遇到的困难方面取得进展，运动行为在日常生活质量中发挥着重要作用。平衡不良是老年人和患者跌倒的主要原因，并与功能衰退和虚弱密切相关。这给社会带来了巨大的代价。1994年，65岁以上人群的跌倒伤害总成本为204亿美元，预计到2020年将超过320亿美元，导致国会立法扩大与跌倒相关的研究和降低跌倒风险的计划(众议院第3695号决议，2002年)。我们认为，更好地了解控制姿势和运动的基本过程将加强目前可用的治疗选择。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project is to support an international and interdisciplinary research conference on the most current research on balance, gait and associated disorders with applications to rehabilitation and clinical practice. The conference will focus on four specific themes: 1) vestibular mechanisms; 2) aging; 3) neurological disorders; and 4) rehabilitation. The significance to society is that the neural/biomechanical systems involved in balance and gait are subject to injury and dysfunction, leading to poor control of upright stance with limited treatment options. By bringing together scholars who investigate balance/gait and mobility problems, and focusing on how basic research is furthering clinical practice, progress will be made in understanding and remedying the difficulties that older adults and patient populations experience with motor behaviors that play a fundamental role in the quality of everyday life. Poor balance is a major cause of falls in older adults and patient populations and is strongly associated with functional decline and frailty. The cost to society is enormous. Total costs of fall injuries for people 65+ in 1994 were $20.4 B and are expected to exceed $32B by 2020, leading Congress to legislation expanding fall-related research and fall-risk reduction programs (House Resolution 3695, 2002). We argue that a better understanding of the processes underlying the control of posture and locomotion will enhance the treatment options presently available.