Source
Muscle & Nerve Supplement. 5:S60-4, 1997.
Abstract
OA compared to YA have high rates of falls and fall-related injuries.
OF have notably higher rates of falls and
fall-related injuries than OM. Healthy OA compared to YA, and females
compared to males of any adult age, have
lower strengths and have development rates for at least some
strengths that are lower. The results of the obstacle
avoidance and balance recovery studies described suggest that OA are
not notably more at risk than YA, nor are
females notably more at risk than males, in avoidance and recovery
tasks that are time-critical (TC), but do not have high
strength (HS) requirements. The results suggest that for TC/HS
avoidance and recovery tasks, OA compared to YA
and females compared to males are substantially more at risk for
injury. The source of these age and gender differences
seems to lie primarily in differences in muscle strengths and speeds
of muscle contraction once contraction is initiated,
rather than in neural factors underlying the sensory processing or
motor planning that leads to the initiation of muscle
contraction. Perhaps these findings help to explain the high rates of
falls and fall injuries among OA compared to YA,
and among OF compared to OM. [References: 15]