Associations Between Childhood Motor Clumsiness and the Risk of Falls and Stumbles in Older Adults: A Preliminary Investigation from a Lifespan Developmental Perspective

Objectives: This study examined the associations between childhood motor clumsiness and falls and stumbles in older adults from a lifespan developmental perspective.Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted with 75 community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years and older, recruited from participants in a health event. Childhood motor clumsiness was evaluated using the question “Were you ever told by others that you were clumsy in movement as a child?” Current motor coordination was assessed using eight items related to developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Falls and stumbles, as well as exercise preferences and self-evaluations were also investigated.Results: The mean age of participants was 78.2 ± 6.0 years. Childhood motor clumsiness was reported in 12 participants (16.0%) and showed significant negative correlations with current and past exercise preferences and self-evaluations (r = −0.32 to −0.43). Falls were reported by 45.5% of the Childhood Motor Clumsiness group and 10.7% of the group without childhood clumsiness, while stumbles were reported by 83.3% and 38.2%, respectively. After adjusting for age and gender, difficulty with organization and tidying was independently associated with falls (OR = 2.63, p = 0.04), and difficulty with distance estimation was independently associated with stumbles (OR = 4.03, p = 0.02).Conclusions: Childhood motor clumsiness influences lifelong exercise preferences and self-evaluations, and specific DCD characteristics are associated with fall and stumble risks in older adulthood. These findings suggest fall prevention approaches must be developed through a lifespan developmental perspective.