Participants sought for study into older people's mobility

As we get older our mobility changes. Over 65 years of age, 39% of males and 47% of females have trouble walking a quarter of a mile (400 metres), and these percentages increase with age. 

The changes are slow. At first we can manage a flight of stairs, albeit slightly slower than we used to, then we can still get up them but the handrail is a lifesaver, and finally those stairs are exhausting or impossible.

Roselle Thoreau, a researcher at UCL Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, wants to understand how older people's mobility changes over time and how this affects their overall health and is recruiting people aged 65 and above who live in the London area to help her with a study. 

The study follows older Londoners over a two-year period, requiring participants to visit Roselle and colleagues for five sessions at their N19 laboratory, starting in June 2012. The study is not invasive or taxing.

If you would like to take part, or if you have a friend or relative who is over 65 and may want to get involved, please call Roselle on 0207 679 1597 or email r.thoreau@ucl.ac.uk to receive a copy of the participant criteria questionnaire. Those who meet the research criteria will be invited to participate.