Gait Impairment and Falls
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Lewis R. Sudarsky
- Source
- Subject
- medicine.medical_specialty
Gait (human)
Physical medicine and rehabilitation
Gait impairment
Physical therapy
medicine
Gait disorders
Early childhood
Neurologic disease
Psychology
human activities
- Language
Gait is a fundamental motor performance and a distinctive attribute of each person. Walking undergoes characteristic changes over the lifespan. It is very sensitive to diseases of the nervous system, and the neurologic examination is not complete until the gait has been observed. Gait disorders are particularly common among the very young and the very old. Delay in learning to walk can be the presenting manifestation of developmental or acquired neurologic disease in early childhood. Gait abnormalities have been recorded in 15% of people over age 65. By age 80, one person in four uses a mechanical aid to assist ambulation. Among people 85 and older, the prevalence of gait disorder approaches 40%.