Screening examinations are widely advocated for the early detection of disease in the elderly (Williamson et al., 1964; Lowther, McLeod and Williamson, 1970; Williams et al., 1972; Richardson, 1964; Anderson and Cowan, 1955; Isaacs, Livingstone and Neville, 1972). There have been several successful experiments in the use of health visitors and district nurses in the initial interview (Burns, 1969; Hodes, 1971; McNabola, 1970; Williamson et al., 1966).

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Thirty people aged 64 and over living at home were asked to complete a "life-space diary" for 1 month during which they were invited to attend a gait laboratory for measurements of gait and balance. Twenty-eight subjects completed the diary satisfactorily, and 24 of these also undertook the laboratory tests. The diary was acceptable and gave a good indication of the subject's mobility. There was a close correlation between mobility as derived from the diary and the laboratory measurements of gait speed and mean sway path. The diary is worthy of further evaluation as an objective record of mobility in old people at home.

Observations were made of the gait of 30 people aged 65 and over who were admitted to hospital shortly after suffering a fall without bone injury. These were compared with 22 patients of similar age admitted to the same hospital who had not suffered a recent fall; with 23 normal active old people of whom 7 had fallen recently; and with 24 normal young subjects. The gait of the hospitalized fallers differed from all other groups, and had the following characteristics: slow speed, short step length, narrow stride width, wide range of stepping frequency, large variability of step length, and increasing variability with increasing frequency. These characteristics may reflect loss of automaticity of gait, and this finding may have implications for pathogenesis and rehabilitation.

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