A comparison of turn and straight walking phases as predictors of incident falls.

This was an observational study, so it shows associations between baseline gait and later falls, not that gait changes caused falls. The sample was relatively healthy community-residing older adults who could walk and were screened for dementia, so the results may not apply to institutionalized adults or people with cognitive impairment. Falls were self-reported at visits and phone calls and were not confirmed through medical records. Participants did not use assistive devices during the gait test, even though many used them in daily life, so the measured gait may not reflect usual walking. The turn assessment used repeated wide 180-degree turns on a marked path, which may not match all real-world turns. The models adjusted for age, sex, education, comorbidity score, and previous falls, but unmeasured factors could still influence the associations.

Funding support is listed as NIH extramural and non-U.S. government research support. No author conflict-of-interest declaration is included in the supplied text.

Do not conclude that turning is a better fall-risk test than straight walking. Several gait variables predicted falls in both phases, and only swing time variability was turn-specific. This observational study also cannot show that changing these gait patterns prevents falls.