The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of external and internal factors (EF and IF, respectively) on attention during exercise on a cross test in elderly inpatients with respect to physical and attention functions. The subjects were 27 elderly inpatients with orthopedic diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, or disuse syndrome (mean age, 77.8±8.8 years). They were randomly divided into two groups, and instructed to pay attention in different directions for a cross test. Measurement was conducted in a pretest, during a 14-day period of practice, during a 7-day period of discontinuation, and in a post-test. In the EF group, the subjects were instructed to place their body weight on the floor while paying attention to the floor. In the IF group, they were instructed to tilt their whole body while paying attention to the body. The physical function was evaluated using the Berg Balance Scale and Timed Up and Go Test, attention using the Trail Making Test Part-A. In the EF and IF groups, the physical and attention functions were lower than the reference ranges, and a cross test showed a significant improvement in the EF group both 7 days and post-test. On the other hand, there were no correlations between the improvement rating for the cross test in pre- and post-tests in the EF and IF groups and physical and attention functions. These results suggest that the use of EF improves the cross test in patients with mild physical, attention hypofunction, promoting exercise learning.
