Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze factors affecting spatio-temporal gait parameters in elderly people of both genders and different ages with different risks of fall, fall history, and medications.
Patients and Methods: A total of 210 community-dwelling older adults (156 females, 54 males; mean age 72.84± 6.26 years) participated in this study. To assess the risk of falls, the Downton Fall Risk Index was used. An additional question about medication intake (all prescribed drugs) was asked. To assess the spatio-temporal gait parameters, the Zebris FDM platform was used. Gait parameters and Downton Fall Risk Index, stratified by participants’ history of falls, multiple medication use (0/1/2+), gender, age, and medication categories, were statistically analyzed using the Mann–Whitney U-test and Kruskal–Wallis test.
Results: When comparing different medication categories, a Downton Fall Risk Index score indicating a high risk of falls was observed in the psychotropic medication category (3.56± 1.67). A gait velocity suggesting a higher risk of falls (≤ 3.60 km/h) was observed in the psychotropic (2.85± 1.09 km/h) and diabetes (2.80± 0.81 km/h) medication categories, in the age groups 70– 79 years (3.30± 0.89 km/h) and 80+ years (2.67± 0.88 km/h), and in participants using two or more medications (3.04± 0.93 km/h).
Conclusion: The results of this study confirm previous observations and show that higher age and multiple medication negatively affect the gait, and that the higher risk of falls is associated with psychotropic and diabetes medication use. These results provide important information for future fall preventive programs for the elderly that would be especially beneficial for elderly people taking psychotropic and diabetes medication.

Keywords: aging, medication, risk, falls, gait velocity


中文翻译：

---

与药物和老年人跌倒风险相关的时空步态参数

目的：本研究的目的是分析影响具有不同跌倒风险、跌倒史和药物治疗的不同性别和不同年龄老年人时空步态参数的因素。
患者和方法：共有 210 名居住在社区的老年人（156 名女性，54 名男性；平均年龄 72.84±6.26 岁）参与了本研究。为了评估跌倒的风险，使用了唐顿跌倒风险指数。询问了关于药物摄入量（所有处方药）的附加问题。为了评估时空步态参数，使用了 Zebris FDM 平台。步态参数和唐顿跌倒风险指数，按参与者的跌倒史、多种药物使用 (0/1/2+)、性别、年龄和药物类别分层，使用 Mann-Whitney 进行统计分析U检验和 Kruskal-Wallis 检验。
结果：在比较不同的药物类别时，在精神药物类别中观察到表明跌倒风险高的唐顿跌倒风险指数评分（3.56±1.67）。在 70-79 岁年龄组的精神药物 (2.85± 1.09 km/h) 和糖尿病 (2.80± 0.81 km/h) 药物类别中观察到表明跌倒风险较高 (≤ 3.60 km/h) 的步态速度(3.30± 0.89 km/h) 和 80 岁以上 (2.67± 0.88 km/h)，以及使用两种或多种药物的参与者 (3.04± 0.93 km/h)。
结论：这项研究的结果证实了先前的观察结果，并表明较高的年龄和多种药物会对步态产生负面影响，并且跌倒的风险较高与精神药物和糖尿病药物的使用有关。这些结果为未来的老年人跌倒预防计划提供了重要信息，这对服用精神药物和糖尿病药物的老年人特别有益。

关键词：衰老、药物治疗、风险、跌倒、步态速度