title: Functional status of the lower extremities in elderly males. A community study.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the functional status of the lower extremities (FSL) of elderly males from the community and to compare it with the self-assessment of health status (SHS) and ventilatory lung function based on measurement of forced expiratory vital capacity (FVC). The material covered a group of 559 males, age 65-89 years, who are residents of Krakow. The FSL was measured by the length of standing time on one leg (ST). There was a very strong declining trend in the ST with age in the elderly. The ST correlated significantly inversely with age (r=-0.32) and positively with FVC (r=0.29). The FSL was also associated strongly with the SHS score, while body-mass index (BMI) and occupational category (OC) appeared to have insignificant effect. The results of the study suggest that the ST may be used as a crude indicator of the general fitness of the elderly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Social Medicine, Krakow, Medical School, Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jedrychowski
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mroz
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tobiasz-Adamczyk
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jedrychowska