This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (47)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Aging/ Geriatrics  • Otolaryngology/ Head & Neck Surgery  • Balance Disorders  • Radiologic Imaging  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Grethe S. Tell, DPhil, MPH; David S. Lefkowitz, MD; Paula Diehr, PhD; Allen D. Elster, MD

Arch Neurol. 1998;55:73-79.

Background  Falling is a major cause of disability and morbidity among older adults. Because poor balance is a major reason for frequent falls, assessment of balance and its risk factors are important. In this study, we postulated that cerebral changes identified on magnetic resonance (MR) imaging are related to balance, and that older adults with balance problems would have significantly greater prevalence of such brain abnormalities than older adults without balance problems.

Design and Measurements  Several measures of balance were examined in more than 700 community-dwelling older men and women, blacks and whites. Balance measures included dynamic posturography, functional reach, Romberg and 1-foot stand tests, tandem stand, and 1-foot stand. Cerebral MR imaging assessments included ventricular size, sulcal widening, white matter disease, and ischemic infarctions. Cardiovascular disease and hypertension were determined and controlled for in the analyses.

Results  A summary of the balance measures was significantly related to each of the 4 MR imaging measures, with those with poorer balance having more disease. The strongest associations with balance were seen for white matter disease and ventricular size. All but the ischemic infarction variable remained significantly associated with balance after adjustments for sex, race, age, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension.

Conclusion  Cerebral changes identified by MR imaging are associated with poorer balance among older adults.

From the Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway (Dr Tell); Department of Neurology, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC (Drs Lefkowitz and Elster); and Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle (Dr Diehr).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Functional Consequences of Subcortical White Matter Lesions and MRI-Defined Brain Infarct in an Elderly General Population
Baune et al.
J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 2009;22:266-273.
ABSTRACT  

Diffusion Tensor Imaging, White Matter Lesions, the Corpus Callosum, and Gait in the Elderly
Bhadelia et al.
Stroke 2009;40:3816-3820.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Deep frontal and periventricular age related white matter changes but not basal ganglia and infratentorial hyperintensities are associated with falls: cross sectional results from the LADIS study
Blahak et al.
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 2009;80:608-613.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Special Article: Gait Measures Indicate Underlying Focal Gray Matter Atrophy in the Brain of Older Adults
Rosano et al.
Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 2008;63:1380-1388.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Association of gait and balance disorders with age-related white matter changes: The LADIS Study
Baezner et al.
Neurology 2008;70:935-942.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A Regions-of-Interest Volumetric Analysis of Mobility Limitations in Community-Dwelling Older Adults
Rosano et al.
Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 2007;62:1048-1055.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Brain white matter lesions detected by magnetic resosnance imaging are associated with balance and gait speed
Starr et al.
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 2003;74:94-98.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Age-dependent variations in the directional sensitivity of balance corrections and compensatory arm movements in man
Allum et al.
J. Physiol. 2002;542:643-663.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Magnetic resonance brain imaging in people with dizziness: a comparison with non-dizzy people
Colledge et al.
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 2002;72:587-589.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A Population-Based Study on Brain Atrophy and Motor Performance in Elderly Women
Guo et al.
Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 2001;56:M633-637.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Neuropsychiatric Significance of Subcortical Hyperintensity
Campbell and Coffey
J. Neuropsychiatry Clin. Neurosi. 2001;13:261-288.
FULL TEXT  

Cluster Analysis and Patterns of Findings on Cranial Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Elderly: The Cardiovascular Health Study
Longstreth et al.
Arch Neurol 2001;58:635-640.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

White matter abnormalities in mobility-impaired older persons
Guttmann et al.
Neurology 2000;54:1277-1283.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

GAIT, BALANCE, AND BRAIN IMAGING ABNORMALITIES
JWatch General 1998;1998:5-5.
FULL TEXT