Wang Ray-Yau, Wang Yuan-Li, Cheng Fang-Yu, Chao Yuan-Hung, Chen Chien-Liang, Yang Yea-Ru
Department of Physical Therapy and Assistive Technology, National Yang-Ming University, 155, Sec 2, Li Nong St., Beitou, Taipei, Taiwan.
Age (Dordr). 2015 Jun;37(3):9780. doi: 10.1007/s11357-015-9780-2. Epub 2015 Apr 25.
Training that focuses on strength, balance, and endurance, the so-called combined exercise, can enhance physical function, including gait, according to a literature review. However, the effects of combined exercise on improving gait variability are limited. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of 12 weeks of combined exercise comprised of resistance, endurance, and balance training on gait performance in older adults. Twenty-nine community-dwelling older adults were recruited and assigned to either the experimental group (n = 17) or the control group (n = 12). The 12-week intervention was a combined exercise program at 1 h per day and 3 days per week. The participants received an assessment for both a 6-min walk and gait during both habitual walking and fast walking conditions at pre-intervention and after 8 and 12 weeks of exercise. The 6-min walk was used to assess gait endurance. GAITRite was used to evaluate gait. An analysis of covariance with the pretest score as the covariate was used to determine the difference in each dependent variable between groups. The level of significance was set as p less than 0.05. Our results showed significant between-group effects in the 6-min walk and velocity, stride time, and stride length in both conditions after 8 weeks of exercise and significant between-group effects in the 6-min walk test and all selected gait parameters in both conditions after 12 weeks of exercise. Our findings demonstrate that a 12-week combined exercise program may positively affect gait endurance and gait performance including gait variability in habitual walking and fast walking conditions among older adults. The current study provides important evidence of short-term combined exercise effects on improvements in gait performance.
一项文献综述表明，专注于力量、平衡和耐力的训练，即所谓的综合运动，可以增强身体机能，包括步态。然而，综合运动对改善步态变异性的效果有限。本研究的目的是调查为期12周的由阻力训练、耐力训练和平衡训练组成的综合运动对老年人步态表现的影响。招募了29名社区居住的老年人，并将他们分为实验组（n = 17）或对照组（n = 12）。为期12周的干预是一个每天1小时、每周3天的综合运动项目。参与者在干预前以及运动8周和12周后，分别在习惯行走和快速行走条件下接受了6分钟步行测试和步态评估。6分钟步行测试用于评估步态耐力。GAITRite用于评估步态。以预测试分数作为协变量的协方差分析用于确定两组之间每个因变量的差异。显著性水平设定为p小于0.05。我们的结果显示，运动8周后，在6分钟步行测试以及两种条件下的速度、步幅时间和步幅长度方面，两组之间存在显著差异；运动12周后，在6分钟步行测试以及两种条件下所有选定的步态参数方面，两组之间也存在显著差异。我们的研究结果表明，为期12周的综合运动项目可能会对老年人在习惯行走和快速行走条件下的步态耐力和步态表现产生积极影响，包括步态变异性。本研究为短期综合运动对改善步态表现的影响提供了重要证据。
