Correlation Between Aerobic Endurance, Energy Expenditure During Walking, and Functional Mobility in the Geriatric Population

Background: Geriatric is a specialty that focus on health care of elderly people. The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) is commonly used test to estimate functional exercise capacity. In elderly population, 6-minute walk test has been found to be highly reliable and acceptable tool. Energy expenditure index (EEI) has been well documented as the efficient tool for the evaluation of the energy expenditure in various age-groups. In various research on geriatrics, time up and go (TUG) tests have been found to be highly reliable for measuring functional mobility. Objective: To find out the correlation among aerobic endurance, energy expenditure and functional mobility in geriatric population. Methodology:200 older adults were included in the study aged 60 to 80 years with mean age of 67.82±4.12 years. Walking heart rate (WHR) & resting heart rate (RHR) for EEI was measured. For the Physical fitness assessment, a 6MWT has been performed for aerobic endurance measurement. For the functional mobility, TUG test was administered. Results: The correlation co-efficient (r1) between 6MWT & EEI was -0.7474. The correlation co-efficient (r2) between 6MWT & TUG test was -0.3431. The correlation co-efficient (r3) between TUG test & EEI was 0.2264. Conclusion: In geriatric population, aerobic endurance and EEI have inverse relationship. Aerobic endurance has no such correlation with Functional mobility. EEI has no correlation with Functional mobility.