Motor Imagery Training in Community Dwelling Elderly

An aging society is known as having at least 7% of its population aged 65 and older, whereas 14% or more known to be an aged nation. Age has a detrimental effect on the physical performance and the muscle strength, the reduced muscle strength, mass and structure in the elderly are due to aging, disuse and inactivity. In the elderly, the reduction of muscle strength is faster than the associated loss of muscle mass. The maximum isometric strength of knee extensors and muscle mass decrease due to aging. The combination of quadriceps and handgrip strength weakness in the elderly is associated with the poorest scores on quality of life, GP contact-time, gait speed, hospitalization and disability in daily living. Quadriceps weakness among elderly is also proved to be a contributing factor to fall among frail nursing home residents. A systematic review and meta-analysis revealed that quadriceps muscle weakness was associated with greater risk of developing knee osteoarthritis during 2.5 to 14 year follow-up in either gender. In overall, aging cause reduce muscle strength, especially quadriceps muscle, can cause many others negative consequences, thus a study of effect motor imagery on quadriceps muscle strength in community-dwelling elderly should be carried out, if this study is proven to effectively, motor imagery technique can be widely utilized on bedridden elderly or elderly who have severe cardiovascular disease who unable to perform physical activity to maintain or improve their muscle strength.