TY - JOUR JF - USWR JO - PTJ VL - 2 IS - 1 PY - 2012 Y1 - 2012/4/01 TI - Correlation between hip ankle flexibility and postural balance in elderly TT - N2 - Objective: Falling is a common problem in elderly. Researches show that impairment of balance and postural control plays a major role in falling. It is suggested that there is a positive correlation between hip and ankle flexibility and falling in elderly. This study aimed to determine if there is a correlation between hip ankle flexibility and postural balance in elderly Materials & Methods: In this cross sectional study, 30 elderly (22men and 8 women) subjects (aged 71±7 yrs) were participated. The Berg Balance Scale and the range of motions of ankle dorsiflexion, passive hip extension, iliopsoas length were measured and the relationship between them was investigated. Results: Results showed that the correlation between ankle dorsiflexion range of motion, passive hip extension and iliopsoas length with balance were direct and significant based on Pearson's test (p<0.05). There was no relationship between age and balance, but balance in men was better than women. Conclusion: It seems that there is a relationship between hip and ankle flexibility and balance in older people, and this index can be used as a criterion to predict falls in elderly people. SP - 17 EP - 22 AU - Baharloohe, Hamzeh AU - Nodehi Moghadam, Afsun AU - Akhbari, Behnam AU - Goharee, Sahar AD - University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences KW - postural control KW - flexibility KW - elderly UR - http://ptj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-22-en.html ER -