Abstract

Due to the trend of ageing commonly seen in developed countries, late-stage older adults are expected to enhance their healthy life expectancy for sustainable healthcare systems. Sound locomotive and cognitive functions are the two important factors for independent lifestyles. While various institutions offer simple health assessments to check their health status, their validity still has room for debate. The current research, therefore, inspected whether simple health assessments would adequately reflect locomotive and cognitive functions. Methods Late-stage frail older adults (n = 19; 84.1 ± 4.6 yrs; height 1.46 ± 0.08 m; body mass 49.6 ± 8.6 kg) recruited from the local aged-care facility undertook various examinations. Simple assessments included grip strength; single leg standing and sit-and-reach. Optitrack motion capture system recorded posture and treadmill gait at 100 Hz. Locomotive functions were determined by step length & width, double support time and the indicator of tripping risk, Minimum Foot Clearance (MFC). Cognitive assessments were Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Trail Making Test-A (TMT-A). Pearson's correlation analysis examined interlinks between measured variables. Results Correlation results found that sit-and-reach and MFC were correlated. Greater grip strength was associated with symmetrical MFC control. Sit-and-reach correlated with MMSE scores. MMSE was negatively correlated with step width. TMT-A showed correlation with double support time. Conclusions Results of correlation analysis suggested that sit-and-reach and grip strength may predict optimum MFC control and associated tripping risks, while decreased cognitive functions may trigger cautious gait adaptations. Further research is required with a larger sample size for conclusive evidence.

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