Institute of Exercise and Health Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Gerontology. 2011;57(4):304-15. doi: 10.1159/000320250. Epub 2010 Aug 19.
The risk of sustaining a fall is particularly high in children and seniors. Deficits in postural control and muscle strength either due to maturation, secular declines or biologic aging are two important intrinsic risk factors for falls. During life span, performance in variables of static postural control follows a U-shaped curve with children and seniors showing larger postural sway than healthy adults. Measures of dynamic postural control (i.e. gait speed) as well as isometric (i.e. maximal strength) and dynamic muscle strength (i.e. muscular power) follow an inverted U-shaped curve during life span, again with children and seniors showing deficits compared to adults. There is evidence that particularly balance and resistance training are effective in counteracting these neuromuscular constraints in both children and seniors. Further, these training regimens are able to reduce the rate of sustaining injuries and falls in these age groups. An intergenerational intervention approach is suggested to enhance the effectiveness of these training programs by improving compliance and increasing motivation of children and seniors exercising together. Thus, the objectives of this mini-review are: (1) to describe the epidemiology and etiology of falls in children and seniors; (2) to discuss training programs that counteract intrinsic fall risk factors by reducing the rate of falling, and (3) to present an intergenerational approach that has the potential to make training programs even more effective by including children and seniors together in one exercise group.
在儿童和老年人中，摔倒的风险特别高。姿势控制和肌肉力量的缺陷，无论是由于成熟、长期下降还是生物衰老，都是摔倒的两个重要内在风险因素。在整个生命周期中，静态姿势控制变量的表现呈 U 形曲线，儿童和老年人的姿势摆动大于健康成年人。动态姿势控制（即步态速度）以及等长（即最大力量）和动态肌肉力量（即肌肉力量）的测量在整个生命周期中呈倒 U 形曲线，与成年人相比，儿童和老年人再次表现出缺陷。有证据表明，特别是平衡和阻力训练在儿童和老年人中有效地对抗这些神经肌肉限制。此外，这些训练方案能够降低这些年龄组受伤和摔倒的速度。建议采用代际干预方法，通过提高儿童和老年人一起锻炼的依从性和积极性来提高这些训练计划的效果。因此，本综述的目的是：（1）描述儿童和老年人跌倒的流行病学和病因；（2）讨论通过降低跌倒率来对抗内在跌倒风险因素的训练方案；（3）提出一种代际方法，通过将儿童和老年人纳入同一个锻炼组，有可能使训练方案更加有效。
