Is there a relationship between balance, gait performance and muscular strength in 75-year-old women?

Objective: to see if there is a relationship between clinical and laborator y tests of balance, muscular strength and gait in elderly women. Design: a randomized population-based study. Settings: Malmo, Sweden. Methods: we investigated balance with a simple test of standing on one leg, as well as a computerized balance platform. Muscular strength was tested b y computerized dynamometer. Extension and flexion of the knee and dorsiflex ion of the ankle were tested. We measured the time and number of steps take n to walk a certain distance and the subjects' height and weight. Participants: 418 randomly selected 75-year-old women, of whom 230 took par t. Results: there was no relation between the computerized balance tests and a ny of the other tests. The non-computerized balance test was correlated wit h gait time and number of steps (r = -0.50, P < 0.001 and r = -0.40, P < 0. 001, respectively). Tests of extension and flexion, strength of the knee an d ankle dorsiflexion were related to gait, speed and number of steps. Heavy women had poorer balance when assessed by the non-computerized test (r = - 0.32, P < 0.001) and with the computerized, stable platform, eyes-open test (r = 0.27, P < 0.001) and eyes-closed test (r = 0.44, P < 0.001), The heav ier an individual was, the slower her gait and the shorter her steps, despi te having stronger knee muscles. Conclusion: there is no relationship between the simple balance tests and c omputerized platform tests. Muscle strength of the leg is not necessarily l inked to balance, but rather to gait performance.