BUMC--JETTE

尽管在美国，老年人慢性残疾的患病率仍在下降， 65岁以上慢性残疾人的总人数正在增加（1、2）。目前， 行动不便影响到近四分之一的65岁以上的人，四分之三的65岁以上的人， 养老院（3）。在非残疾的老年人中，在爬楼梯等任务中的移动性限制， 和在房间里行走被定义为“行动不便”（4）。捕捉和评估流动性 在老年人的限制，功能能力的性能测试已经开发出来，并已被证明 预测事故残疾，机构化和死亡率（4，5）。尤其是行走能力， 如在4米步行测试期间通过步态速度测量的，已经被证明是随后的 ADL残疾和行动能力残疾（6）。此外，经验证的高度可靠的工具，以评估 还在观察性研究中制定和实施了身体残疾的组成部分， 临床试验最近，在选定的动物模型（大鼠、小鼠）中的测试方案已经被开发， 评估与这些物种的损伤和功能限制相关的重要终点。

Although the prevalence of chronic disability in older individuals remains on the decline in the United States, the total number of individuals over the age of 65 with chronic disability is increasing (1, 2). Presently, limitations in mobility affect almost one in four individuals over age 65 and three quarters of those living in nursing homes (3). In non-disabled older individuals, limitations in mobility in such tasks as climbing stairs, and walking across a room have been defined as "mobility disability" (4). To capture and assess mobility limitations in the elderly, performance tests of functional capacity have been developed and have been shown to be predictive of incident disability, institutionalization, and mortality (4, 5). In particular, walking ability alone, as measured by gait speed during a 4 M walk test, has been shown to be a strong predictor of subsequent ADL disability and mobility disability (6). In addition, validated highly reliable instruments to assess components of physical disability have also been developed and implemented in observational studies and clinical trials. More recently, testing protocols in selected animal models (rats, mice) have been developed to assess important endpoints related to impairments and functional limitations in these species.