Foot Disorders and Falls in a Population-Based Cohort

以人群为基础的队列中的足部疾病和跌倒 尽管临床印象中足部疾病是老年人跌倒和不良事件的常见原因，但很少有 基于人口的数据支持这一观点。足部疾病经常被忽视，因为它是导致 跌倒和很少的工作评估了重要的调节因素，如老年人的平衡或步态。既跌倒又跌倒 疾病是主要的公共卫生问题，随着人口老龄化，这一问题的重要性只会增加。我们 建议检查特定足部疾病对跌倒的影响，并进一步评估平衡或步态 影响这种关系。我们将在两年内将对足部疾病的全面评估与观察到的跌倒联系起来- 随着我们观察到的体能表现，平衡和步态测量可能会改变这种关系。我们的3 这个项目的具体目标将研究1)脚部疾患和跌倒之间的纵向关系，2)足部疾患 考虑通过平衡不良的途径摔倒，考虑脚部障碍和跌倒，考虑通过步态受损的途径 还有一个次要目标是探索鞋类和跌倒之间的关系。 重要的是要检查中间变量，或中介者，因为它们可以澄清 足部疾病和跌倒，也是因为它们是未来干预的潜在目标。没有其他同龄人与 老年人足部疾病的详细信息到全面的纵向跌倒信息，到目前为止还没有研究， 研究了平衡、步态或鞋履在足部疾病和跌倒人群评估中的作用。这个 拟议的研究将提供临床医学和公众都非常感兴趣的关联的重要信息。 结果将帮助我们设计未来的干预措施，如足部护理、鞋子和特定的 减少老年人跌倒风险的设备。本项目将广泛利用招生 从已经资助的方案项目赠款中收集资源和数据(PI：L.Lipsitz，赠款#AG04390，7/01/04 -06/30/0f&gt；，“HRCA/哈佛研究疗养院”)。基于初步数据，这项研究将提供新的和 关于足部疾病在老年男性和女性2年后新跌倒中的作用的重要信息- 向上。更好地了解老年人的足部疾病可能会导致更好地理解治疗策略 防止摔倒。

Foot Disorders and Falls in a Population-Based Cohort Despite the clinical impression that foot disorders are a common cause of falls and adverse events in older persons, little population-based data exist to support this view. Foot disorders are often overlooked as important potential causes of falls and ittle work has evaluated important mediators, such as balance or gait in older persons. Both falls and foot disorders represent major public health problems that will only increase in importance as the population ages. We propose to examine the impact of specific foot disorders upon falls, and further to evaluate whether balance or gait affect this relation. We will link a comprehensive assessment of foot disorders to observed falls over a 2-year follow- up, as we 1as to the observed physical performance, balance and gait measures that might modify the relation. Our 3 specific aims of this project will examine the longitudinalrelationsbetween 1) foot disorders and falls, 2) foot disorders and falls considering a pathway via poor balance, 3) foot disorders and falls, considering a pathway via impaired gait, and a secondary aim exploring the relation between footwear and falls. It is important to examine intervening variables, or mediators, as they may clarify the nature of the relation between foot disorders and falls, and also since they are potential targets for future interventions. No other cohort has linked detailed information on foot disorders in elders to comprehensive longitudinal falls information and no study thusfar, has examined the roles of balance, gait, or footwear in an population evaluation of foot disorders and falls. The proposed study will provide essential information on associations of keen interest both to clinical medicine and public health in 'he field of aging. Results will help us to design future interventions, such as foot care, shoes and specific devices to reduce the risk of falls among elderly people. This project will make extensive use of the recruitment resources and data collection from an already funded program project grant (PI:L. Lipsitz, Grant # AG04390, 7/01/04 - 06/30/0f>, "HRCA/Harvard Research Nursing Home"). Based on preliminary data, this study will provide new and important information about the role of foot disorders upon new falls in elderly men and women over a 2-year follow- up. A greater understanding of foot disorders in older individuals may lead to better understanding of the strategies to prevent falls.