Relationships between balance control and cognitive functions, gait speed, and activities of daily living

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between balance control and cognitive functions, gait speed, and activities of daily living.

In all, 80 elderly participants with mild cognitive impairment (mean age 67.07 ± 4.3 years) were randomly allocated into the experimental group (n = 40) or the control group (n = 40).

Balance control was evaluated by the Balance Evaluation Systems Test (BESTest). Cognitive functions were evaluated by the Trail Making Test and the Nine Hole Peg Test. Gait speed was assessed by the Up and Go test with and without dual task. For evaluation of activities of daily living (ADL), the BADLS test was used. The experimental group underwent CogniPlus 20 training sessions twice a week. Both groups had 30 min of physical training daily for 10 weeks.

After training, there were five significant correlations found in the experimental group (balance control and visuomotor coordination, psychomotor speed, gait speed with and without cognitive tasks, and activities of daily living). In the control group, one significant correlation was found between balance control and gait speed.

The cognitive-motor training performed for 10 weeks confirmed more significant relationships between balance control, cognitive functions, gait speed, and activities of daily living, when compared with motor intervention alone.