Prospective Study and Analysis of Biomechanical Parameters of Human Movement Based on Disability Indicators in Older Adults

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Mobility loss in older people is caused by a variety of aging impairments in various body systems.The disability, which includes physical impairments and resulting activity limitations or participation restrictions, can arise acutely from a catastrophic illness or, more commonly, from subacute functional decline without a clear triggering event. Lower physical functioning was associated with higher healthcare utilization and expenditures, leading to a large burden on government-funded healthcare services. Early identification of mobility changes and intervening in them would likely be the most effective strategy to reduce the burden of disability in the population. Overall, there is a need to develop strategies to reduce disability among older adults in which kinetic and kinematic characteristics are used to predict disability status. Accordingly, the purpose of this prospective cohort is to identify biomechanical parameters, from the gait, sit-to-stand, timed up and go, stair ascend and descend, and quiet standing functional tasks, as predictors of changes in health and disability status in older adults. This research was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), NORTE 2020, and European Social Fund of European Union, grant number 2020.05356.BD and through R&D Units funding (UIDB/05210/2020), Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal and the European Union.

Official Title
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Study and Analysis of Biomechanical Parameters of Human Movement Based on Disability Indicators in Older Adults Based on a Multifactorial Analysis: a Prospective Cohort Study

Conditions
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Disability

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Exposure to disability


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: older adults, 60 years or over; community-dwelling; able to perform the tasks (gait, sit-to-stand, climb and descend stairs) independently; Exclusion Criteria: older adults who are institutionalized; older adults who have established diagnosis of malignancy or terminal diseases with an anticipated survival of less than 1 year; older adults who have stroke history, cerebral hemorrhage, head trauma, or Parkinson's disease; older adults who have cognitive impairment, specifically Mini Mental StateExamination (Portuguese version) score of 22 for 0 to 2 years of literacy, 24 for 3 to6 years of literacy and 27 for more than 6 years of literacy (Morgado et al., 2009); older adults who have rheumatic pathologies that interfere with the tasks performance; older adults who have diabetic foot, lower limb fracture less than 6 weeks, or other related conditions; older adults who have unstable cardiovascular disease, liver or renal function failure; older adults who have a body mass index greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2; older adults who vestibular and/or audition or vision impairments non corrected that influence the performance of tasks; older adults who presence of symptoms at the time of evaluation that influences the participant performance of tasks.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 60 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Healthy older Adults<br>Healthy older Adults: older adults without disability indicators | Other: Exposure to disability<br>* Disability status assessed by functional measures<br>|
| Disability Older Adults<br>Disability Older Adults: older adults with disability indicators | Other: Exposure to disability<br>* Disability status assessed by functional measures<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Waveforms from full-body joint angles | Waveforms from full-body joint angles measured in degrees (°) | Assessed once at study entry. | 
| Waveform from full-body angular joint velocities | Waveform from angular joint velocities measured in degrees per second (°/s) | Assessed once at study entry | 
| Waveform from lower limb joint moments | Waveform from lower limb joint moments measured in Newton-meter (kgm²/s²) | Assessed once at study entry | 
| Waveform from total body energy | Waveform from total body energy measured in joules (J) | Assessed once at study entry | 
| Waveform from full-body separate segment energy | Waveform from body segment energy un joules (J) | Assessed once at study entry | 
| Waveform from lower body joint forces | Waveform from lower body joint forces measured in Newton (N) | Assessed once at study entry | 
| Waveform from lower body joint power | Waveform from lower body joint power measured in Watts | Assessed once at study entry | 
| Waveform from centre of mass displacement | Waveform from centre of mass displacement in m/s | Assessed once at study entry | 
| Waveform from centre of pressure displacement | Waveform from centre of pressure displacement in m/s | Assessed once at study entry | 
| International Physical Activity Questionnaire | IPAQ is questionnaire to assess self-reported physical activity | Assessed at study entry and evaluated every three months until the end of 1 year | 
| Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) | MMSE provides a brief screening test that quantitatively assesses the severity of cognitive impairment and documents cognitive changes occurring over time | Assessed at study entry and evaluated every three months until the end of 1 year | 
| Barthel Index | The Barthel Index is an instrument that assesses the individual's level of independence for ten activities of daily living | Assessed at study entry and evaluated every three months until the end of 1 year | 
| Lawton and Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale | Lawton and Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale assess the instrumental ADLs necessary for living in the community | Assessed at study entry and evaluated every three months until the end of 1 year | 
| Number of health conditions | Total number and description of health conditions | Assessed at study entry and evaluated every three months until the end of 1 year | 
| Number of falls | Total number and description of ocurrences of falls | Assessed at study entry and evaluated every three months until the end of 1 year |