The 10-week supervised hip flexor stretching program was effective in increasing stride length and peak hip extension during walking in elderly adults who had limited preintervention hip extension during walking. These results support the use of a simple stretching program for elderly individuals in counteracting age-related decline in gait function.
These results indicate that a simple stretching program is effective in improving some measures of age-related decline in gait function in frail elderly patients. The lack of consistent improvements in walking kinematics is attributed to the presence of multiple disabilities and limitations present in the frail subjects.
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