Abstract
【Purpose】The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a walking program on physical fitness and walking ability with eyes closed in community-dwelling elderly.【Methods】Twenty healthy community-dwelling elderly participated in this study. They were assigned an intervention in the walking program for six months. One-legged stance test, Timed Up & Go test, Sit to Stand test (STS) and the Romberg ratio were used to assess their physical fitness. Walking speed, stride length and double support time with eyes closed were measured to assess their walking ability. These assessments were done before and after the walking intervention program.【Results】STS in the final assessmenwere significantly shortened. Moreover the walking speed and the stride length were significantly increased and the double support time was significantly reduced, in the walk with eyes closed compared to those six months ago. The significance of a correlation between the change of the Romberg ratio and the double support time was also found.【Conclusion】These results suggest that the 6-month walking program is associated with an improvement in the physical fitness and the postural stability during the walk with eyes closed for elderly persons.
