Clinical studyNeurological examination findings to predict limitations in mobility and falls in older persons without a history of neurological disease☆
Section snippets
Study sample
InCHIANTI enrolled a representative sample of the residents of Greve and Bagno a Ripoli, two small towns in Tuscany, Italy. The study design and data collection methods, which have been described previously (12), were approved by the review board of the Italian National Institute of Research and Care on Aging. In brief, in August 1998, 1299 persons aged 65 years or older were randomly selected from the sample registry of the two sites. Of these, 17 men and 22 women had died or moved away from
Results
The overall prevalence of abnormal eye movements, paresis, reduced touch and proprioceptive sensitivity, tremor, and abnormal balance test (Romberg sign) was low (Table 1). However, the prevalence of other neurological signs was notably high. A Babinski sign was found in 23% (84/370) of men and 27% (120/448) of women. Twenty-three percent (191/818) of participants had muscle rigidity in one or more locations, 10% (n = 83) had asymmetrical muscle strength, 26% (n = 209) had dysmetria in the
Discussion
In a population-based sample of elderly subjects who did not have overt neurological disease and cognitive impairment, we found that the prevalence of neurological signs was high and increased with older age and the extent of limitations in mobility. Ten neurological signs were mutually independent correlates of either walking speed or the ability to walk for at least 1 km. Independent of age and sex, participants with a greater number of neurological signs tended to walk slower and were more
References (33)
- et al.
Mini-Mental Statea practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician
J Psychiatr Res
(1975) Disability in older peoplea mass problem requiring mass solutions
Lancet
(1999)- The neurology of aging. In: Adams RD, Victor M, Ropper AH, eds. Principles of Neurology. Chicago, Illinois:...
- et al.
Neurological examination in subjects over 65 yearsan epidemiological survey
Neuroepidemiology
(1990) - et al.
Neurologic signs in senescence
Arch Neurol
(1985) - et al.
Neurological manifestations of aging
J Gerontol
(1977) - et al.
Cerebral white matter changes (leukoaraiosis), stroke, and gait disturbance
J Am Geriatr Soc
(1997) - et al.
Recognition of neurologic diseases in geriatric inpatients
Acta Neurol Scand
(1998) - et al.
White matter abnormalities in mobility-impaired older persons
Neurology
(2000) - et al.
Life and death of neurons in the aging brain
Science
(1997)
Sarcopeniacurrent concepts
J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci
Neuronal loss in the brainstem and cerebellum—part of the normal aging process? A morphometric study of the vermis cerebelli and inferior olivary nucleus
J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci
Origins and clinical relevance of sarcopenia
Can J Appl Physiol
Subsystems contributing to the decline in ability to walkbridging the gap between epidemiology and geriatric practice in the InCHIANTI study
J Am Geriatr Soc
a major international collaboration. WHO MONICA Project Principal Investigators
J Clin Epidemiol
A comparison of clinical and pathological features of young- and old-onset Parkinson's disease
Neurology
Cited by (0)
- ☆
Supported as a “targeted project” (ICS 110.1\RS97.71) by the Italian Ministry of Health and in part by the U.S. National Institute on Aging (Contracts 916413 and 821336).