Relationship between evaluation of skeletal muscles of the Thigh region by ultrasonography and past falls in the community-dwelling elderly

Abstract

【Purpose】The purpose of this study is to elucidate the relationship between falling and evaluation of skeletal muscles of the Thigh region by Ultrasonography. 【Methods】This is a cross-sectional study on 152 community-dwelling elderly individuals.Age,Gender,body mass index,motor function,dual task timed up and go test performance,attention function, Thigh muscle thickness and brightness,and isometric knee extension strength were evaluated.A binary logistic regression analysis was performed on the presence or absence of falls in the previous year surveyed to identify the factors associated with falls. 【Results】One-leg standing with eyes opened test time (odds ratio 3.01) and the Dual Task Timed Up and Go Test (odds ratio 3.38) were identified as factors associated with falls.【Conclusion】None of the quantitative and qualitative factors of skeletal muscles of the Thigh region were identified to have an independent effect on the falls.These results suggested that the ability to maintain a standing position and dual task timed up and go test performance were potential factors of the risk of falls.