Background and objectives: One of the greatest challenges facing the healthcare of the aging population is frailty. There is growing scientific evidence that gait assessment using wearable sensors could be used for prefrailty and frailty screening. The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of a wearable sensor-based assessment of gait to discriminate between frailty levels (robust, prefrail, and frail). Materials and methods: 133 participants (≥60 years) were recruited and frailty was assessed using the Fried criteria. Gait was assessed using wireless inertial sensors attached by straps on the thighs, shins, and feet. Between-group differences in frailty were assessed using analysis of variance. Associations between frailty and gait parameters were assessed using multinomial logistic models with frailty as the dependent variable. We used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to calculate the area under the curve (AUC) to estimate the predictive validity of each parameter. The cut-off values were calculated based on the Youden index. Results: Frailty was identified in 37 (28%) participants, prefrailty in 66 (50%), and no Fried criteria were found in 30 (23%) participants. Gait speed, stance phase time, swing phase time, stride time, double support time, and cadence were able to discriminate frailty from robust, and prefrail from robust. Stride time (AUC = 0.915), stance phase (AUC = 0.923), and cadence (AUC = 0.930) were the most sensitive parameters to separate frail or prefrail from robust. Other gait parameters, such as double support, had poor sensitivity. We determined the value of stride time (1.19 s), stance phase time (0.68 s), and cadence (101 steps/min) to identify individuals with prefrailty or frailty with sufficient sensitivity and specificity. Conclusions: The results of our study show that gait analysis using wearable sensors could discriminate between frailty levels. We were able to identify several gait indicators apart from gait speed that distinguish frail or prefrail from robust with sufficient sensitivity and specificity. If improved and adapted for everyday use, gait assessment technologies could contribute to frailty screening and monitoring.

This paper presents a finite element method (FEM)-based fracture risk assessment in patient-specific osteoporotic lumbar vertebra L1. The influence of osteoporosis is defined by variation of parameters such as thickness of the cortical shell, the bone volume–total volume ratio (BV/TV), and the trabecular bone score (TBS). The mechanical behaviour of bone is defined using the Ramberg–Osgood material model. This study involves the static and nonlinear dynamic calculations of von Mises stresses and follows statistical processing of the obtained results in order to develop the patient-specific vertebra reliability. In addition, different scenarios of parameters show that the reliability of the proposed model of human vertebra highly decreases with low levels of BV/TV and is critical due to the thinner cortical bone, suggesting high trauma risk by reason of osteoporosis.

Background and Objectives: It is thought that muscle and bone interact only on a biomechanical level, however, some research is now emerging that links bone and muscle on a cellular level. The aim of this study was to explore associations between physical function, muscle mass and bone density in community-dwelling elderly men with sarcopenia. A secondary goal was to analyze if muscle morphology was associated with bone density and physical functioning. Materials and Methods: Body composition was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Bone density was evaluated according to WHO criteria. Sarcopenia was diagnosed according to European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) criteria: low muscle mass and low muscle strength or low physical performance. Microbiopsy of musculus vastus lateralis was performed with a disposable muscle microbiopsy system. The perimeter and cross-sectional area of muscle fibers were calculated using image analysis software in whole slide images; type of fibers and their distribution were evaluated as well. Results: A total of 151 men, 60 years or older were included in this study. Mean age of the subjects was 72.9 ± 8.02 years. Sarcopenia was diagnosed in 45 (29.8%) men. Multiple significant correlations were found between bone mineral density, lean mass, appendicular lean mass, arm and leg lean mass, gait speed, balance test and handgrip strength in sarcopenic men. Lean mass was associated with femoral neck BMD (bone mineral density; r = 0.418, p = 0.006) and handgrip strength (r = 0.553, p < 0.001). In the sarcopenia group, 25 muscle biopsies were examined. In 9 sarcopenic men with T-scores equal or below −2.5, the muscle fiber area had a significant correlation with the balance test (r = 0.73, p = 0.025). Conclusions: In men with sarcopenia, low lean muscle mass was associated with low femoral neck BMD and low muscle strength. In sarcopenic men with osteoporosis, low muscle fiber area was associated with low scores in a balance test.

Osteoporosis causes the bone mass loss and increased fracture risk. This paper presents the modelling of osteoporotic human lumbar vertebrae L1 by employing finite elements method (FEM). The isolated inhomogeneous vertebral body is composed by cortical out-er shell and cancellous bone. The level of osteoporotic contribution is characterised by reducing the thickness of cortical shell and elasticity modulus of cancellous bone using power-law dependence with apparent density. The strength parameters are evaluated on the basis of von Mises-Hencky yield criterion. Parametric study of osteoporotic degradation contains the static and nonlinear dynamic analysis of stresses that occur due to physiological load. Results of our investigation are presented in terms of nonlinear interdependence between stress and external load.

Introduction: Ageing is associated with several physical, psychological, and behavioral changes. These changes are closely related with general health problems and quality of life in old age. The CASP-19 multidimensional instrument was specially designed to measure quality of life in the elderly. The different language versions of this scale have been used in more than 20 countries. However, Lithuanian translation was not available. The objective of our study was to test psychometric properties of the Lithuanian version of the CASP-19 questionnaire. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was performed with ambulatory men and women aged 60 and older, living in a community in Vilnius, Lithuania. Exclusion criteria were current acute illness, malignant tumor, and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score < 25 points. Psychometric properties of CASP-19 were tested using reliability and validity methods. Results: The study sample consisted of 132 participants, 28 (21.8%) of them were men and 103 (78.2%) women. Analysis of psychometric properties of the Lithuanian version of CASP-19 showed high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha 0.85), good agreement between test-retest measures with an ICC of 0.82 (95% CI 0.79–0.85) and good convergent and divergent construct validity. Conclusions: The psychometric properties indicated that the Lithuanian version of CASP-19 was reliable and valid. As such, it might be used to evaluate quality of life in elderly people.