Functional reserve in functionally independent elderly persons: a calculation of gait speed and physiological cost

• Autor(a) principal: González,Paul Medina
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Cofré,Rodrigo Muñoz, Cabello,Máximo Escobar
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira de Geriatria e Gerontologia
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1809-98232016000400577
• topic: Activities of Daily Living; Physical Fitness; Gait; Gender Characteristics; Aging

Abstract Aim: To analyze the behavior of functional reserve percentage (%FR) by gender in functional elderly persons, considering speed and the physiological cost of gait. Methods: A total of 53 self-reliant elderly persons, 40 of whom were women (age 69.4±4.7 years old; BMI 31.2±4.3 kg/m2) and 13 of whom were men (age 70.8±7.2 years old; BMI 28.7±3.5 kg/m2) participated in an observational and cross-sectional study. Participants were requested to walk at comfortable (CG) and maximum gait (MG). Both modalities were performed on a 70-meter elliptical circuit over three minutes. Distance and working heart rate were recorded for the corresponding calculation of average gait speed (AGS), physiological cost index (PCI) and used working heart rate percentage (% uWHR). With this information the FR% was determined by the percentage ratio with AGS, PCI and %uWHR under comfortable versus maximum demand walk conditions. Results: The association between %FR and AGS was significantly higher in males (p=0.017), reaching values of +-20% in most subjects. The physiological %FR for PCI was ≈30% in both men and women (p=0.156), while for % uWHR was ≈40% in females and ≈45% in males (p=0.131). Conclusion: AGS is a critical threshold functionality indicator to determine FR in functionally independent Chilean elderly persons.