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Analysis of the Correlation Between Executive Function and Obstacle Gait Evaluation for the Elderly

  • Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
  • Abbr : J Korean Soc Phys Med
  • 2022, 17(3), pp.51-58
  • Publisher : The Korean Society of Physical Medicine
  • Research Area : Medicine and Pharmacy > Physical Therapy > Other physical therapy
  • Received : July 10, 2022
  • Accepted : August 5, 2022
  • Published : August 31, 2022

Seung-Min Lee 1 Lee, Han-Suk 2

1SRC Rehabilitation Hospital
2을지대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between executive function and gait evaluations for the elderly, and validate the obstacle gait evaluation as a cognitive impairment test tool. METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional design. 79 people aged 65 years or older were selected as subjects. The Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-KC) to evaluate overall cognitive function and the Trail Making Test (TMT) A, B to measure executive function were performed. The 4-meter walking speed test and the walking speed test while crossing over an obstacle were carried out to evaluate gait. The Spearman’s correlation was used to measure the correlation between cognition and gait speed. RESULTS: There was no significant correlation between the 4 m gait speed and executive function( TMT-A (p = .056), TMT-B (p = .115)). However, there was a significant correlation between the 4 m gait speed and MMSE-KC (r = .277, p < .05). There was also a significant correlation between walking speed while crossing over an obstacle and all tests (MMSE-KC (r = .382, p < .01). TMT-A (r = -.327, p < .01), TMT-B (r = -.283, p < .05)). CONCLUSION: It was found that the gait speed while crossing over an obstacle was correlated with all cognitive function tests. Therefore, we suggest the use of the gait speed test while crossing over an obstacle rather than the simple gait test to diagnose cognitive decline.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.