Abstract
Abstract
Objective: Older adults often have difficulty in climbing stairs, leading to a limited life space and decreased quality of life. Stair climbing requires stability and smooth movement of the trunk and lower limbs. We investigated the relationship between living space and kinematic characteristics of stair ascending and descending.
Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 45 older adults who use an elderly daycare center ascended and descended 10-cm and 20-cm steps on a training staircase. Their truncal and knee movements on the frontal plane were quantified using the normalized jerk score ( NJS ) and normalized angular jerk cost ( NAJC ). Life-Space Assessment ( LSA ) for life space, Fall Efficacy Scale International ( FES-I ) for fear of falling, and Numeric Rating
Scale ( NRS ) for pain were evaluated.
Results: LSA showed significant correlations with trunk NJS, knee NJS, and knee NAJC in the descending motion from 20-cm steps. After adjusting for age, sex, BMI, NRS, and FES-I, there were significant effects on trunk NJS, knee NJS, and knee NAJC in descending 20-cm steps.
Conclusion: Since the descending motion requires stability and braking against rapid motion, jerk is a suitable index to express motion smoothness. These findings indicate the importance of focusing on the kinematic characteristics of stair climbing behavior in assessing life space.
