Investigation of Gait in Elderly Subjects Over 88 Years of Age

Abstract

To evaluate senile gait patterns in octagenarians and nonagenarians, we provided a standardized questionnaire on gait disabilities to 153 elderly subjects over 88 years of age. Subjects represented a relatively healthy subgroup of noninstitu-tionalized residents who participated in a gerontological survey of all inhabitants of the city of Leiden who were 85 years of age or older. Of the 142 subjects who responded to this questionnaire, 87 persons (61 %) claimed distinct diseases as a cause of gait impairment. Forty-two of the remaining 55 persons were investigated neurologically and received a standardized assessment of gait. Twenty-five persons (18% of all responders) had a completely normal gait, whereas a wide spectrum of gait abnormalities—mainly with ataxic features—was encountered in the remaining persons. It is concluded that a surprisingly high number of very old community residents can have a completely normal gait. Gait disorders in this age group are most frequently associated with common distinct diseases. In addition, many elderly have a gait disturbance of variable clinical nature and unclear pathologic basis, which may represent the “idiopathic senile gait.” U Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 1992;5:78–84).