Reinvestment and falls in community-dwelling older adults.
BACKGROUND
Falls are common in older adults and have many adverse consequences. In an attempt to prevent further incidents, elder fallers may consciously monitor and control their movements. Ironically, conscious movement control may be one factor that contributes to disruption of automaticity of walking, increasing the likelihood of subsequent falls.


OBJECTIVE
The Movement Specific Reinvestment Scale (MSRS), which aims to measure the propensity for movement-related self-consciousness and for conscious processing of movement, was used to try to discriminate elder fallers from non-fallers.


METHODS
Fifty-two volunteer older adults, aged 65 or above, participated. In addition to the 10-item MSRS, participants completed the Mini-Mental State Examination questionnaire, Timed "Up & Go" test, and Four Word Short-Term Memory test. Demographics including age, gender, and history of falling were collected.


RESULTS
Elder fallers scored significantly higher than non-fallers on both the movement self-consciousness and conscious motor processing components of the MSRS. Logistic regression revealed a significant association between the MSRS (conscious motor processing component) and "faller or non-faller" status.


CONCLUSIONS
Elder fallers may have a higher propensity to consciously control their movements. The MSRS shows potential as a clinical tool with which to predict falls in the elderly, as well as to gain insight into the perception of safety during walking in any impaired patient.
Wong
W L
WL
Institute of Human Performance, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. h0197925@hkusua.hku.hk
Masters
R S W
RS
Maxwell
J P
JP
Abernethy
A B
AB
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D015984:Causality; D003243:Consciousness / Q000502:physiology; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires