Gait Variability: Epidemiology, Assessment & Management

Brach博士是一名物理治疗师和董事会认证的老年临床专家，他的目标是成为全国公认的移动和老龄化研究领域的领导者。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，物理治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，并且应该成为旨在改善行动能力的研究的关键参与者。作为一名物理治疗师，Brach博士在评估和治疗移动性问题方面具有很强的技能，她在流行病学方面的培训为她在研究方法和基本统计技术方面奠定了坚实的基础。她现在寻求纵向数据分析，高级步态分析（包括时间序列分析）和临床试验方法学方面的额外重点培训。作为她在保罗B计划中的主要导师。比森老龄化职业发展奖，斯蒂芬妮Studenski博士，她自己在流动性和老龄化研究的国家领导人，将监督博士布拉赫的研究培训和职业发展，成为一个独立的调查员和领导者在老龄化领域。她的研究计划和职业发展将由一个多学科的团队，包括流行病学家/老年医学家，一个Staecian，一个生物工程师和物理治疗师监督。匹兹堡大学丰富的资源。胡椒OAIC也将用于她的支持和发展。 为了实现她成为全国公认的老龄化和流动性领域领导者的目标，Brach博士设计了一系列三个研究项目，这将使她能够详细研究步态变异性和适应性，这是流动性的一个组成部分。在项目1中，Brach博士将使用来自心血管健康研究的已建立数据集来检查500多名老年人的birthweight样本中步态变异性的贡献者和后果。由于在低需求情况下进行测试时，许多有行动问题的老年人没有被识别出来，因此在项目2中，Brach博士将开发一种步态适应性措施，以测试老年人在高需求条件下行走。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变异性和适应性。

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.