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Older adults' experiences and perceptions of dual tasking

Older adults' experiences and perceptions of dual tasking
Older adults' experiences and perceptions of dual tasking
There is no consensus on which dual task (DT) test best assesses mobility or balance deficits in older adults. This study aimed to explore older adults' experiences and perceptions of dual tasking to identify DTs relevant to their everyday life and that they perceive as difficult or risky.

Two gender-specific focus groups were conducted. Six males and nine females, aged 70 years or above, participated. The topics posed to the groups included structured and open questions designed to explore experiences of combining two activities and the consequences of that for balance. The results were subjected to content analysis to identify DT examples, task difficulty levels and balance-threatening tasks.

Most participants were able to identify DT examples and some identified a concurrent impact on balance. There were gender differences in the examples: the females focused more on household tasks and the males more on outdoor activities. Many tasks that were considered difficult or risky by the participants do not feature sufficiently in the literature, such as stair negotiation and avoiding moving obstacles accompanied by secondary tasks.

The views of older adults should be taken into consideration to help to develop tests that are more sensitive and have face validity.
0308-0226
405-412
Muhaidat, Jennifer
08f55db0-f08b-425a-964b-e922ef11b374
Skelton, Dawn
0174f22b-e5ad-47a8-85a8-bb7120f83250
Kerr, Andrew
51c5f47c-2e70-4439-ab0f-e0b8d13dc67d
Evans, Jonathan
555d8947-0f16-4b99-ae7a-1f4853898f17
Ballinger, Claire
1495742c-90aa-4074-920e-95e6cc3d5380
Muhaidat, Jennifer
08f55db0-f08b-425a-964b-e922ef11b374
Skelton, Dawn
0174f22b-e5ad-47a8-85a8-bb7120f83250
Kerr, Andrew
51c5f47c-2e70-4439-ab0f-e0b8d13dc67d
Evans, Jonathan
555d8947-0f16-4b99-ae7a-1f4853898f17
Ballinger, Claire
1495742c-90aa-4074-920e-95e6cc3d5380

Muhaidat, Jennifer, Skelton, Dawn, Kerr, Andrew, Evans, Jonathan and Ballinger, Claire (2010) Older adults' experiences and perceptions of dual tasking. The British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 73 (9), 405-412. (doi:10.4276/030802210X12839367526057).

Record type: Article

Abstract

There is no consensus on which dual task (DT) test best assesses mobility or balance deficits in older adults. This study aimed to explore older adults' experiences and perceptions of dual tasking to identify DTs relevant to their everyday life and that they perceive as difficult or risky.

Two gender-specific focus groups were conducted. Six males and nine females, aged 70 years or above, participated. The topics posed to the groups included structured and open questions designed to explore experiences of combining two activities and the consequences of that for balance. The results were subjected to content analysis to identify DT examples, task difficulty levels and balance-threatening tasks.

Most participants were able to identify DT examples and some identified a concurrent impact on balance. There were gender differences in the examples: the females focused more on household tasks and the males more on outdoor activities. Many tasks that were considered difficult or risky by the participants do not feature sufficiently in the literature, such as stair negotiation and avoiding moving obstacles accompanied by secondary tasks.

The views of older adults should be taken into consideration to help to develop tests that are more sensitive and have face validity.

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More information

Published date: September 2010
Organisations: Primary Care & Population Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 350526
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/350526
ISSN: 0308-0226
PURE UUID: 8cce54e7-49ca-4f42-9d2b-965d478177dd

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Date deposited: 26 Mar 2013 11:47
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 13:27

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Contributors

Author: Jennifer Muhaidat
Author: Dawn Skelton
Author: Andrew Kerr
Author: Jonathan Evans
Author: Claire Ballinger

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