Joint contractures and acquired deforming hypertonia are frequent in dependent older people. The consequences of these conditions can be significant for activities of daily living as well as comfort and quality of life. They can also negatively affect the burden of care and care costs. However, etiological factors and pathophysiologic mechanisms remain only partly understood. As a result, preventive interventions and treatments focus entirely on controlling symptoms rather than the causes. Moreover, the effectiveness of these interventions remains to be validated. The purpose of this position paper is to present current data on etiological factors contributing to the development of joint contractures and acquired deforming hypertonia in older people. The pathophysiologic mechanisms of joint contractures in animal models are also presented.