[Lateral trunk control in a sitting test is associated with mobility and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living among community-dwelling elderly people].

AIM: We hypothesized that during walking, mediolateral instability with gait disorders could be reflected in the characteristics of lateral trunk control while sitting. We investigated the association between lateral trunk control while sitting, mobility and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) among community-dwelling elderly people. METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis was carried out of the data of 33 men and 102 women in a community-dwelling elderly population (average age, 73.2±6.0 years). A Seated Side-Tapping test was developed to assess lateral trunk control while sitting. We used the Lawton IADL scale, the 5-m normal walking test and the Timed "Up & Go" test (TUG) to measure mobility. RESULTS: The mean duration of the Seated Side-Tapping test was 5.0±0.9 seconds, ranging from 3.1 to 8.2 seconds. The test was normally distributed (p=0.200). The Seated Side-Tapping test was significantly associated with TUG, after controlling for age (r=0.46). The group with disability in at least 1 IADL item was significantly slower in the Seated Side-Tapping test, especially in men (5.7 sec for men, 5.5 sec for women vs. the independent group, 4.8 sec for both). Only the Seated Side-Tapping test remained significantly associated with IADL disability after logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that lateral trunk control in sitting is associated with mobility and disability in at least 1 item of the IADL. These results support the potential use of the Seated Side-Tapping test to safely carry out risk assessments for frail elderly patients.