THE EFFECT OF EXERCISE ON GAIT PATTERNS IN OLDER WOMEN - A RANDOMIZEDCONTROLLED TRIAL

Background. This study was undertaken to determine (a) whether a progr am of regular exercise can improve gait patterns in older women, and ( b) whether any such improvement in gait is mediated by increased lower limb muscle strength. Method. A 22-week randomized controlled trial o f exercise was conducted as part of the Randwick Falls and Fractures S tudy in Sydney, Australia. Subjects were 160 women aged 60-83 years (M ean age 71.1, SD = 5.2) who were randomly recruited from the community . Exercise and control subjects were tested prior to and at the end of the trial. At initial testing, exercisers and controls performed simi larly in the strength and gait parameters. They were well matched in t erms of age and a number of health and life-style characteristics. Res ults. At the end of the trial, the exercise subjects showed improved s trength in five lower limb muscle groups, increased walking speed, cad ence, stride length, and shorter stride times as indicated by both red uced swing and stance duration. There were no significant improvements in any of the strength or gait parameters in the controls. Within the exercise group, increased cadence was associated with improved ankle dorsiflexion strength, and increased stride length was associated with improved hip extension strength. Exercise subjects with initial slow walking speed showed greater changes in velocity, stride length, caden ce, and stance duration than those with initial fast walking speed. Co nclusion. These findings show that exercise can increase gait velocity and related parameters in older persons, and that part of this increa se may be mediated by improved lower limb muscle strength.