ABSTRACT

Background and Purpose: Backwards walking has shown promise as an intervention in many at-risk populations. The purpose of this study was to determine the benefits of backward walking training on balance, mobility, and plantar flexor endurance in individuals 60 years of age and older.

Methods: Participants were community-dwelling, ambulatory older adults. The kinematics of forward and backward walking, the Mini BESTest, timed-up-and-go test, four-square step test, Activity-Specific Balance Confidence Scale, and single heel-rise test were performed. The control group were tested and re-tested five weeks later. The intervention group was tested at baseline and following ten backward-walking training sessions.

Results: The training group improved on the Dynamic Gait subsection of the Mini-BESTest, the timed-up-and-go test, the number of heel-rises and the total work done in the heel-rise test. The control group did not improve in these measures, although they generally had better function at baseline than the intervention group.

Conclusion: Backward walking training benefits plantar flexor endurance and dynamic balance during gait. These results justify further study in frailer older adults and a more rigorous study design.

摘要

背景和目的：倒退已显示出作为对许多高危人群的干预措施的前景。本研究的目的是确定向后步行训练对 60 岁及以上人群的平衡、灵活性和足底屈肌耐力的益处。

方法：参与者是居住在社区的、能走动的老年人。进行了前后行走运动学、Mini BESTest、计时起跑测试、四方步测试、特定活动平衡信心量表和单跟抬高测试。对照组进行测试并在五周后重新测试。干预组在基线和十次后退训练课程后进行测试。

结果：训练组在Mini-BESTest的动态步态、计时起跳测试、脚后跟上升次数和脚后跟上升测试中完成的总功有所提高。对照组在这些措施上没有改善，尽管他们在基线时的功能通常比干预组好。

结论：后向步行训练有益于步态过程中的足底屈肌耐力和动态平衡。这些结果证明了对体弱老年人的进一步研究和更严格的研究设计是合理的。