Biomechanics and Motion Analysis

Effect of Kyphosis on Balance and Gait in Elderly Osteoporotic Individuals: A Controlled Trial

Principal Investigator: Mehrsheed Sinaki, M.D.
Project Coordinator: Christine Hughes — hughes.christine@mayo.edu

Osteoporosis is, and will continue to be, a major health concern for the population. Falls in combination with low bone mass result in over 200,000 geriatric hip fractures each year in the U.S. Imbalance and tripping over obstacles during gait were reported as two of the most common causes of falls in the elderly. Balance may be a factor that can respond to intervention and result in reduction in risk of falling.

This study is designed to investigate the influence of osteoporosis and kyphosis on gait unsteadiness and falls in elderly individuals and to correlate the unsteadiness of gait to the related muscle weakness. The proposal was for fourteen healthy individuals without kyphosis and fourteen osteoporotic or osteopenic individuals with kyphosis to have a gait analysis, strength test, and posturography. The individuals with kyphosis will repeat all these tests after a four-week trail of use of the Posture Training Support (weighted kypho-orthosis).