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Investigation of Gait in Elderly Subjects Over 88 Years of Age

Department of Neurology (Mr Bloem and Drs Haan, Wintzen, and Roos) and the Study Group for Medical Gerontology (Drs Lagaay and van Beek), University Hospital Leiden, The Netherlands.

Joost Haan, MD, PhD

Department of Neurology (Mr Bloem and Drs Haan, Wintzen, and Roos) and the Study Group for Medical Gerontology (Drs Lagaay and van Beek), University Hospital Leiden, The Netherlands.

Anne M. Lagaay, MD

Department of Neurology (Mr Bloem and Drs Haan, Wintzen, and Roos) and the Study Group for Medical Gerontology (Drs Lagaay and van Beek), University Hospital Leiden, The Netherlands.

Wim van Beek, MD

Department of Neurology (Mr Bloem and Drs Haan, Wintzen, and Roos) and the Study Group for Medical Gerontology (Drs Lagaay and van Beek), University Hospital Leiden, The Netherlands.

Axel R. Wintzen, MD, PhD

Department of Neurology (Mr Bloem and Drs Haan, Wintzen, and Roos) and the Study Group for Medical Gerontology (Drs Lagaay and van Beek), University Hospital Leiden, The Netherlands.

Raymund A.C. Roos, MD, PhD

Department of Neurology (Mr Bloem and Drs Haan, Wintzen, and Roos) and the Study Group for Medical Gerontology (Drs Lagaay and van Beek), University Hospital Leiden, The Netherlands.

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 noninstitu-tionalized 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." U Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 1992;5:78–84).

Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, Vol. 5, No. 2, 78-84 (1992)
DOI: 10.1177/002383099200500204


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