Submitted
to the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine for
presentation
Selected Function Performance in Healthy
Young and Old, as well as People with Peripheral Neuropathy
Courtney Boss, Brad Manor, Li Li, FACSM
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
Peripheral Neuropathy
(PN) is characterized by altered cutaneous
sensitivity. While individuals with PN present with an increased risk of
falls, little is known about its effects on common measures of physical
function. The Purpose of this study
was to compare performance in selected physical function in people with PN,
healthy age-matched controls (HO) and young adults (HY). Methods: Thirteen people with diagnosed PN (11 women, 2 men, mean
age = 66.1 ¡À 25.1 years; height = 167.7 ¡À 16.4 cm, body mass = 69.9 ¡À 16.6 kg),
13 HO (8 women, 5 men, mean age = 60.3 ¡À 6.7 years; height =173.2 ¡À 20.8 cm,
body mass = 78.0 ¡À 33.6 kg), and 13 HY (10 women, 3 men, mean age = 21.4 ¡À 1.6
years; height =168.5 ¡À 14.4 cm, body mass = 65.7 ¡À 44.6 kg) signed a consent
form approved by the IRB. Eyes-closed standing balance was evaluated by the
average velocity (VEL, cm/s) and the area enclosing 95% (A95, cm2)
of the body center of pressure. Knee strength (Nm) was assessed by maximum
isokinetic (60 deg/s) knee extensor (KE) and flexor
peak torque (KF). Functional capacity and mobility were measured by the six
minute walk (6MW, m) test and the timed up-and-go (TUG, sec) test,
respectively. Sensation of 5 foot sole locations was evaluated with a 5.07
gauge monofilament. ANOVA was used for comparison. Results: The PN exhibited severe loss of sensitivity in the five
tested sites as compared to the HO and HY (PN = 3.4 ¡À 3.4, HO = 4.9 ¡À .9, HY =
5 ¡À 0 sites, p < .001). The PN walked significantly less distance in the 6MW
compared to the HO and HY (PN = 485 ¡À 114, HO = 586 ¡À 107, HY = 604 ¡À 72, p
< .001). PN took significantly longer in completing TUG tests (PN = 8.1 ¡À
.6, HO = 6.0 ¡À .2, HY = 5.2 ¡À .2). A95 and VEL measurements demonstrated that
the PN (10.8 ¡À 3.1, 3.2 ¡À .4) was different (P < .02, P < .003) from the
HY (3.1 ¡À .9, 1.4 ¡À .1). No difference was observed between the HO (4.4 ¡À .8,
2.3 ¡À .4) and the other groups. KE was significantly lower in the PN compared
to the HY, yet no difference was observed between the HO and the other groups
(PN = 97 ¡À 21, HO = 127 ¡À 21, HY = 153 ¡À 22, p < .04). No significant group
differences were observed in KF. Conclusion:
Minimal difference was observed between the performance of HY and HO,
suggesting that normal aging has little effect on the tested physical function.
PN is a debilitating movement disorder that has substantial effects on
weight-bearing measures of physical function.