Abstract
The present study involved elderly females living in the community who had undergone the Figure-of-8Walk test in which they walked at maximum speeds, and examined the age-specific measurements. The relationship between the F8Wmax and falls was also examined. The subjects were 134 elderly females living in the community. The time and number of steps required to reach the F8Wmax were measured, and the subjects were asked about their experience of falling over the past one year. The subjects were categorized into “60 to 69-year-old”(39), “70 to 79-year-old”(59), and “80-year-old or older”(36) groups, and the time and number of steps required to reach the F8Wmax were compared among them. There were significant differences among the three groups. The experience of falls was not significantly correlated with the time or number of steps required to reach the F8Wmax. Therefore, the reliability of age-specific F8Wmax measurements for the elderly females living in the community was suggested.
