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- Issue 65
- Successful 10-second one-legged stance performance predicts…
Successful 10-second one-legged stance performance predicts survival in middle-aged and older individuals
Key Points
- Screening balance and strength measures before age 60, when individuals verbalize noticing strength and balance deficits, could result in earlier detection of balance and strength deficits associated with falls, mobility decline, and mortality.
BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE
Primary and secondary aging are associated with the strength and balance deficits commonly seen among older adults (1). Many of these changes start occurring at 30 but are frequently not reported until 60 (1). In the USA, most screenings related to strength and balance are initiated at age 65, meaning that some individuals had over 30 years of decline in strength and balance. Such long periods of decline mean that it is very difficult to regain the strength and balance deficits that have been lost. Therefore, it would be advantageous to see if we could identify these impairments earlier.
The objective of this study was to assess whether the 10 second one-legged stance (10s OLS) was associated with all-cause mortality and if it enhanced prognostic information beyond ordinary demographic, anthropometric and clinical data.
Older adults who stand on one leg for less than 10 seconds have increased mortality, risk for falling, and are more likely to be identified as having pre-sarcopenia.
METHODS
- The study design was a prospective cohort study