title: Investigation of gait in elderly subjects over 88 years of age.
abstract: To evaluate senile gait patterns in octagenarians and nonagenarians, we provided a standardized questionnaire on gait disabilities to 153 elderly subjects over 88 years of age. Subjects represented a relatively healthy subgroup of noninstitutionalized residents who participated in a gerontological survey of all inhabitants of the city of Leiden who were 85 years of age or older. Of the 142 subjects who responded to this questionnaire, 87 persons (61%) claimed distinct diseases as a cause of gait impairment. Forty-two of the remaining 55 persons were investigated neurologically and received a standardized assessment of gait. Twenty-five persons (18% of all responders) had a completely normal gait, whereas a wide spectrum of gait abnormalities--mainly with ataxic features--was encountered in the remaining persons. It is concluded that a surprisingly high number of very old community residents can have a completely normal gait. Gait disorders in this age group are most frequently associated with common distinct diseases. In addition, many elderly have a gait disturbance of variable clinical nature and unclear pathologic basis, which may represent the "idiopathic senile gait."
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Hospital Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Bloem
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Haan
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Lagaay
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: van Beek
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Wintzen
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Roos
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009420:Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology; D009426:Netherlands; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D009468:Neuromuscular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values