Posture,Gait,and Falls among Older Assistive Ambulatory Device Users

摘要：This review article is primarily a summary of research that has been conducted in the author's lab and clinical sites as well some relevant studies from others.These studies mainly focus on how and what the assistive ambulatory devices (AADs),including walkers and canes in the geriatric population,may affect the user's posture and gait,as well as how the AADs may be associated with the rate of falls.Among AAD users,inappropriate use of an AAD was common,including lack of medical consultation for device selection/use,incorrect AAD height,poor AAD maintenance,inability to maintain the right gait pattern,improper posture during ambulation,and placement of a cane in the wrong-sided hand.Older AAD users still fall,despite the help of their device.Forward-leaning posture was frequently identified in the AAD users and was significantly associated with the rate of falls.In an order from a sing-tip cane,tri-tip cane,quad cane,to a rolling walker,the AAD users demonstrated significant decreased velocity,cadence,and increased stance time during ambulation.The author strongly recommend that establishing an outreach community service program and/or performing a simple assessment of a patient' s AAD during the patient's visit to provide education on proper posture and gait patterns might be able to improve the ability of appropriate AAD use for these older AAD users,thus likely decreasing the chance of potential falls among them.