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Geriatrics research

Everything we have read on geriatrics. Each paper is summarised from the full article rather than its abstract, so the limitations are in there too, and the funding wherever the paper declares it.

1,442 PAPERS · PAGE 9 OF 29 · NEWEST FIRST

• PTOther2017Short physical performance battery for middle-aged and older adult cardiovascular disease patients: implication for strength tests and lower extremity morphological evaluation.Journal of physical therapy scienceInpatients with cardiovascular disease scored lower on the Short Physical Performance Battery than outpatients and healthy adults, especially on chair stands. Lower scores went with weaker knee extension and thinner thigh muscles.
• PTOther2017Role of Hip Abductor Muscle Composition and Torque in Protective Stepping for Lateral Balance Recovery in Older Adults.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationOlder adults who recovered balance by stepping toward the midline had weaker hip abductors and more fatty infiltration than those who crossed their legs. This suggests hip strength relates to the ability to perform the more complex cross-step strategy.
• PTOther2017Polestriding Intervention Improves Gait and Axial Symptoms in Mild to Moderate Parkinson Disease.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationAfter 12 weeks of supervised polestriding, 17 people with mild to moderate Parkinson disease walked faster and had longer steps, and some walking and balance severity scores were lower; some remained lower at follow-up, while overall rating and questionnaire scores showed no clear change.
• PTOther2017Frequency analysis of the center of pressure in tandem stance in community-dwelling elderly.Journal of physical therapy scienceElderly women who struggled to hold tandem stance for 20 seconds had less very fast pressure movement under their feet, side to side and front to back, than women who held it.
• PTOther2017Analysis of the muscular activities of the tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius muscles in functional reach.Journal of physical therapy scienceIn 48 adults aged 60 or older, shin and calf muscle activity increased as they reached farther during the functional reach test. Standing on a cushioned mat did not change that pattern compared with a firm surface.
• PTQualitative2017Qualitative Development of a Discrete Choice Experiment for Physical Activity Interventions to Improve Knee Osteoarthritis.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationPeople with knee pain weighed time, effort, cost, convenience, enjoyment, and health benefits when choosing physical activity. Physical therapists can ask about these before prescribing activity, but this study did not test whether doing so improves outcomes.
• PTOTSurvey2017Interrelationship among the health-related and subjective quality of life, daily life activities, instrumental activities of daily living of community-dwelling elderly females in orthopedic outpatients.Journal of physical therapy scienceIn older women attending orthopedic clinics, less pain, better general health, more energy, better social life, and better mental health went with greater happiness. Happiness did not track daily activity or practical independence. Physical function tracked daily and practical activities, and energy tracked practical activities.
• PTOTCohort2017Predictive validity of the functional independence and difficulty scale in community-dwelling Japanese older adults.Journal of physical therapy scienceIn community-dwelling Japanese older adults who were independent in basic activities, lower scores on the Functional Independence and Difficulty Scale predicted future decline in instrumental activities and multiple falls. The Barthel Index did not predict these outcomes.
• PTOther2017Evaluation of an Outpatient Rehabilitative Program to Address Mobility Limitations Among Older Adults.American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitationIn 116 older adults who finished an outpatient mobility program, walking, balance, and chair-rise scores improved after treatment. Without a comparison group, this shows what happened during care, not that the program caused the improvement.
• PTCohort2017Gait disorders in the elderly and dual task gait analysis: a new approach for identifying motor phenotypes.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationWhen older adults counted backwards while walking, their stride regularity suffered most. This change helped distinguish peripheral from central gait disorders, but the walking patterns did not match diagnoses or memory scores.
• PTOther2017The association between fear of falling and smoothness of lower trunk oscillation in gait varies according to gait speed in community-dwelling older adults.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationOlder adults afraid of falling had less smooth lower trunk motion side-to-side at normal pace, and less smooth motion front-to-back when walking fast. Fear of falling was linked to gait changes after fall history was considered.
• PTOTCase Report2017Improved functional independence measure facilitates return to home after paralyzed upper-limb training: a case report.Journal of physical therapy scienceThe FIM score rose from 71 to 105 in one stroke patient who received occupational therapy, affected upper-limb training, physiotherapy, and a fixed walker with knee support over four months. She returned home. This is one person, not proof the package works.
• PTOTSLPRCT2017Improving Prospective Memory in Persons With Parkinson Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairTeaching people with Parkinson's to visualize specific 'when and what' cues improved memory for one-off tasks more than simple repetition. Both strategies helped, but the visualization method showed a stronger effect on difficult, non-repeated tasks.
• PTOther2017Anticipatory Postural Adjustment During Self-Initiated, Cued, and Compensatory Stepping in Healthy Older Adults and Patients With Parkinson Disease.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationIn healthy adults, cued stepping increased postural preparation before stepping, while a balance recovery step decreased it. In mild Parkinson disease, the change across these conditions was less pronounced than in healthy adults, and levodopa did not change step preparation.
• PTRCT2017Walking in fully immersive virtual environments: an evaluation of potential adverse effects in older adults and individuals with Parkinson's disease.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationTwenty minutes of treadmill walking in an immersive headset did not increase simulator sickness or worsen balance in healthy older adults or people with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease. A few people showed symptoms, so monitor tolerance before using it.
• PTOther2017Availability of the Two-step Test to evaluate balance in frail people in a day care service.Journal of physical therapy scienceIn 11 frail day care users, a short two-step measure went along with Timed Up and Go and one-leg standing time. It may help screen balance when heavier tests are too demanding.
• PTOther2017Comparison of the tibialis anterior and soleus muscles isolation ratios during the sit-to-stand movement in elderly people.Journal of physical therapy scienceIn 10 elderly women, tibialis anterior contributed more than soleus before the thighs left the chair during sit-to-stand. After thigh-off, contributions were similar. This is a muscle activation comparison, not evidence of fall prevention.
• PTCohort2017Instrumented gait analysis: a measure of gait improvement by a wheeled walker in hospitalized geriatric patients.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationHospitalized older adults walked faster and took longer strides with a wheeled walker than without, including first-time users. The study measured gait parameters only, not falls or independence.
• PTCohort2017Association of Neuromuscular Attributes With Performance-Based Mobility Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults With Symptomatic Lumbar Spinal Stenosis.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationIn older adults with symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis, trunk extensor endurance, leg strength, leg strength asymmetry, and knee range-of-motion problems were linked to poorer walking and chair-rise performance.
• PTRCT2017Auto detection and segmentation of daily living activities during a Timed Up and Go task in people with Parkinson's disease using multiple inertial sensors.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationAfter adjustments for Parkinson's movement patterns, wearable sensor algorithms detected standing, sitting, walking and turning correctly in all 432 tested activity instances during a Timed Up and Go task in 12 people with early disease.
• PTOther2017Effectiveness of physical activity as primary preventive care for lower urinary tract symptoms in elderly people through the "Muscle Enhancing Club".Journal of physical therapy scienceMost urinary symptom scores did not change after a 12-week exercise class. Quality-of-life score changed by -0.27 points on a 1-6 scale; women had some changes, and some scores changed among participants with existing symptoms.
• PTSurvey2017Physical activity level and fall risk among community-dwelling older adults.Journal of physical therapy sciencePhysical activity level did not line up with fall risk in 132 Malaysian older adults. 94.7% had low fall risk, and 50.8% reported under-active regular light-activities. Activity level alone should not be read as a fall risk signal.
• PTRCT2017The effect of cognitive-motor dual task training with the biorescue force platform on cognition, balance and dual task performance in institutionalized older adults: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of physical therapy scienceIn older adults with mild cognitive impairment, six weeks of BioRescue dual-task training added to usual care shortened timed up-and-go total duration and turn-to-sit time, but did not improve cognition, Tinetti balance, or dual-task error rate.
• PTOther2017The relationship between physical function in the elderly and judgment error in walking speed.Journal of physical therapy scienceSome older adults misjudged walking speed. Eight slow walkers judged themselves faster than a video model despite the slowest obstacle-course time and lower balance confidence.
• PTOther2017The effects of milk intake and whole-body vibration exercise on bone mineral density in elderly women in nursing homes.Journal of physical therapy scienceBone-density scores did not change significantly with lactose-free milk plus whole-body vibration over 12 weeks. The study did not show a significant effect on bone density.
• PTOTRCT2017The effects of occupation-centered activity program on fall-related factors and quality of life in patients with dementia.Journal of physical therapy scienceDementia patients in a daytime care center who added an occupation-centered program to their medication showed significantly better balance, leg strength, fall confidence, and quality of life than those on medication alone. The group also had larger improvements in cognitive test scores.
• PTOther2017Effects of kinesio taping to the quadriceps femoris muscles on functions of elderly women.Journal of physical therapy scienceElderly women with knee osteoarthritis who added kinesio taping to exercise had lower post scores on a knee function questionnaire and timed tests than those who exercised alone.
• PTOther2017Feature selection for elderly faller classification based on wearable sensors.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationSmaller feature sets from wearable gait sensors outperformed full-feature models for classifying older fallers, but repeated testing detected only 44% of fallers, so it is not ready for clinical fall screening.
• PTPilot2017The effects of progressive neuromuscular training on postural balance and functionality in elderly patients with knee osteoarthritis: a pilot study.Journal of physical therapy scienceIn 11 older adults with knee osteoarthritis, 8 weeks of supervised strength, balance and proprioception training was followed by improved balance and self-reported pain, stiffness and function; gains remained 4 weeks after training. Without a control group, this cannot prove the training caused them.
• PTRCT2017Effects of exercise on brain activity during walking in older adults: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationThe supervised program did not produce a greater increase in brain activity during walking than control after 3 months in 24 older women, although both groups showed increases in different brain areas. Gait changes were mixed: longer right step length and lower cadence.
• PTOTRCT2017The effect of virtual reality program on the cognitive function and balance of the people with mild cognitive impairment.Journal of physical therapy scienceIn 24 adults with mild cognitive impairment, four weeks of virtual reality tasks improved memory, concentration and balance scores, while traditional occupational therapy did not. The study did not test whether changes lasted.
• PTOther2017Relationship of visual dependence to age, balance, attention, and vertigo.Journal of physical therapy scienceSome older adults relied heavily on vision, but visually independent older adults were similar to younger adults. The visually dependent older adults were less steady when vision and footing were both altered, even though they reported little vertigo.
• PTOther2017Frontal brain activation changes due to dual-tasking under partial body weight support conditions in older adults with multiple sclerosis.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationPartial body weight support in a single session increased frontal brain activity during walking and talking. Walking speed was not shown to improve, and walking while talking became more demanding with support.
• PTOther2017The Next Step in Understanding Impaired Reactive Balance Control in People With Stroke: The Role of Defective Early Automatic Postural Responses.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairPeople with chronic stroke had impaired reactive stepping, especially sideways, and delayed and smaller paretic hip abductor responses. Their feet-in-place balance capacity was similar to controls.
• PTRCT2017The effects of physical training without equipment on pain perception and balance in the elderly: A randomized controlled trial.Work (Reading, Mass.)Older adults doing a 13-week equipment-free group exercise program improved balance and had lower pain-related disability scores at follow-up. Controls who received no intervention did not show these changes. The program used no equipment and included mobility, core stability, proprioceptive, and coordination work.
• PTCohort2017Musculoskeletal signs in female homecare personnel: A longitudinal epidemiological study.Work (Reading, Mass.)Pain provoked in lower lumbar segments at baseline was linked to higher low back pain and disability eight years later in female homecare workers. Lumbar mobility showed small links, but signs explained only 6 to 10% of outcomes.
• PTCohort2017Association between mild cognitive impairment and trajectory-based spatial parameters during timed up and go test using a laser range sensor.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationOlder adults with mild cognitive impairment turned closer to the TUG marker and made a narrower forward path. Their total TUG time did not differ, so timing alone may miss these movement differences.
• PTOther2017Effects of high intensity aerobic exercise on treadmill on maximum-expiratory lung capacity of elderly women.Journal of physical therapy scienceIn 22 elderly women, 12 weeks of treadmill aerobic exercise at 70% maximum heart rate significantly increased FVC from 2.1 to 2.3 liters and FEV1 from 1.7 to 1.8 liters; other airflow measures did not change significantly.
• PTOther2017Gait characteristics and their discriminative power in geriatric patients with and without cognitive impairment.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationGait measures separated geriatric patients from healthy older adults, but did not reliably tell cognitively impaired and cognitively intact geriatric patients apart, even during a thinking task. Do not use walking alone to identify cognitive impairment in geriatric patients.
• PTOther2017Quality of life and physical activity among older adults living in institutions compared to the community.The South African journal of physiotherapyCommunity-dwelling older adults reported higher quality of life and physical activity than old age home residents. Energy, emotional well-being and activity levels showed the clearest differences.
• PTRCT2018Dry Needling on the Infraspinatus Latent and Active Myofascial Trigger Points in Older Adults With Nonspecific Shoulder Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Journal of geriatric physical therapy (2001)Adding dry needling of a latent trigger point to active trigger point needling reduced pain and tenderness in older adults with shoulder pain more than active needling alone. The benefit lasted one week.
• PTPilot2018Instrumented Test of Sensory Integration for Balance: A Validation Study.Journal of geriatric physical therapy (2001)A portable instrumented balance test was related to the laboratory gold standard for sway moderately to well in adults with Parkinson's disease, and it separated fallers from non-fallers while the laboratory test did not.
• PTRCT2017Postural motor learning in Parkinson's disease: The effect of practice on continuous compensatory postural regulation.Gait & posturePeople with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease had poorer initial balance timing on an oscillating platform, but improved at a rate similar to healthy controls and kept the gains after 24 hours.
• PTCohort2017Anticipatory postural adjustment patterns during gait initiation across the adult lifespan.Gait & postureAt least one balance adjustment before stepping was missing in 23.8% of trials, and it was similar across age groups. Missing loading of the stepping leg was common, so an absent part alone is not necessarily pathology.
• PTSurvey2017Age-Related Imbalance Is Associated With Slower Walking Speed: An Analysis From the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.Journal of geriatric physical therapy (2001)In 2,116 adults aged 50-85, failing a balance test with eyes closed on foam was associated with 0.10 m/s slower walking before accounting for other factors and 0.06 m/s slower after accounting for them. This does not prove imbalance caused slower walking.
• PTOther2017Neuroimaging of an attention demanding dual-task during dynamic postural control.Gait & postureWhen standing on a moving platform while listening for tones, brain activation fell below what the two tasks alone predicted in both age groups. The drop was larger for balance than for listening.
• PTRCT2018Development and delivery of an exercise programme for falls prevention: the Prevention of Falls Injury Trial (PreFIT).PhysiotherapyNo participant outcomes are reported. This paper describes how the PreFIT falls-prevention exercise programme was developed and delivered.
• PTOTCohort2018The Brazilian Back Complaints in the Elders (Brazilian BACE) study: characteristics of Brazilian older adults with a new episode of low back pain.Brazilian journal of physical therapyOlder Brazilian adults with new low back pain reported high pain and disability. Those with lower education and income had worse pain, more disability, and greater fear of falling. Age alone did not predict worse outcomes; the 55–74 group reported more pain than the 75+ group.
• PTOther2017Neural correlates of obstacle negotiation in older adults: An fNIRS study.Gait & postureOlder adults with slow gait showed greater obstacle-related increases in brain activity in the front of the brain than those with normal gait, especially while talking. The study measured brain activity, not falls or treatment effects.
• PTOTCohort2017Quantitative trunk sway and prediction of incident falls in older adults.Gait & postureForward-backward trunk sway during standing predicted future falls in older adults, but side-to-side sway did not. The test had low sensitivity, so it should not replace a full fall risk assessment.