An Assessment of Falls in Elderly Men and Women

Abstract

The data suggest that actual performance of mobility skills is an efficient means of identifying potential fallers. The decrements in functional activity performance appear to be related to central information processing control components, specifically selective attention and choice reaction time. The significant correlations between the sensory input, central processing control, and effector components with the functional activities suggest that the marginal declines in the sensory and effector components may have an additive effect, which may adversely affect the ability of fallers to perform the functional activities. The data suggest that selective attention and choice reaction time are the two most significant balance control components predictive of falls.