A Comparison of Three Functional Tests of Balance in Identifying Fallers from Non-Fallers in Elderly People
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22100/jkh.v4i4.192Keywords:
Elderly, Fall, Non-Fallers, Fallers, BalanceAbstract
Introduction: In order to help establish appropriate treatment goals, increase awareness of fall risk, and assign appropriate assistive device, balance assessment is necessary for most of the elderly in health setting. Falls have significant relationship with the health of elderly people; and its early identification will lead to reducing future fall risk. Therefore, the present study was done with the aim of comparing three functional tests in identifying elderly non-fallers and fallers.
Methods: In this causal-comparative study, 52 elderly men and women were selected from Subjects three parks in Tehran. Having Completed a consciousness evaluation questionnaire through convenience sampling and based on participants’ self-reports, the subjects were divided into an elderly group (27 people) with a history of one or more falls in the previous one year and an elderly group (25 people) with no history of falls. The data were collected through Timed up & Go test, Functional Reach test and Berg Balance Scale and they were analyzed via MANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient tests(P<0.05).
Results: The results showed significant difference between elderly fallers and non fallers in fall risk dependent variable (P=0.0005) so that, in all tests, the elderly with no falling history had a better performance. There was also a significant correlation between the three tests.
Conclusion: In general, it can be said that the two groups showed significant differences in all three tests and these instruments can be used to identify the elderly with balance impairment.
References
Nodehimogadam A, Ehsanifar F. The survey abnormal physical- motor elderly respect to center of rehabilitation organization welfare of Tehran. Iranian Journal of Ageing 2006;1(2):125-131.[Persian].
Kun LG. Telehealth and global health network in the 21 st century. From homecare to public health informatics. Computer Methods Programs Biomed 2001;64(3):155-167.
Nejati V, Hassan A. health related Quality of life in the elderly in Kashan. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology 2008;14(1):56-61.[Persian].
National portal of statistics. 2006. Available from: URL:www.sci.org.ir 2009-08-10.
Potter PA, Porry AG. Fundamentals of nursing. St. Louise:Mosby; 2005.
Mojani MA. Dizziness in elderly. Journal Qazvin University of Medical Sciences 2007;11(2):71-78.[Persian].
Kenneth S, Satterfield KS. Balance testing helps identify elderly at risk of multiple falls. American Otological Society 2001;12.
Williams HG, Mcclenaghan BA, Dickerson J. Spectral characteristics of postural control in elderly individuals. Arch Phys Med Rehabi 1997;78(7):737-744.
Richardson GL, Ashton- Miller JA, Lee SG, Jacobs K. Moderate peripheral neuropathy impairs weight transfer and unimpeded balance in the elderly. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 1996;77:1152-6.
Akbarikamrani AA, Azadi F, Salavati M, Kazemi B. Prediction of risk of falling among institutionalized elderly people in Iran. Journal of rehabilitation 2003;13(4):45-51.[Persian].
Atwater SW, Crowe TK, Deitz JC, Richardson PK. Interrater and test-retest reliability of two pediatric balance test. Phys Ther 1990;70(2):79-87.
Shumway-Cook A, Baldwin M, Polissar NL, Grubar W. Predicting the probability for falls in community-dwelling older adults. Phys Ther 1997;77(8):812-819.
Maki BE, Mcllroy WE. Postural control in older adult. Clin Geriatr Med 1996;12(4):635-658.
Shumway-cook A, Woollacott M. Motor control. 3td ed. New York:Lippincott Williams & Wilkin;2007.p.157-257.
Woollacott M, Shumway-Cook A. Attention and the control of posture and gait: A review of an emerging area of research. Gait Posture 2002;16(1):1-14.
Bennie S, Bruner K, Dizon A, Fritz H, Goodman B, Peterson S. Measurements of balance: comparison of the timed “up and go” test and functional reach test with the berg balance scale. J Phys Ther Sci 2003;15(2):93-97.
Reelick MF, Van Iersel MB, Kessels RP, Rikkert MG. The influence of fear of falling on gait and balance in older people. Age Aging 2009:38(4):435-40.
Mathias S, Neyak U, Issacs B. Balance in elderly patients: the "Get Up & Go" test. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 1986;67:387-389.
Duncan PW, Weinter DK, Chandler J, Studenski S. Functional Reach: A new clinical measure of balance. J Gerontol 1990;45(6):192-7.
Arnold C, Faulkner KA. The history of falls and the association of the timed up and go test to falls & near-falls in older adults with hip osteoarthritis. BMC Geriatr 2007;7:17.
Shamway-cook A, Brauer S, Woollacott M. Predicting the probability for falls in community-dwelling older adults using the timed up and go test. Phys Ther 2000;80(9):896-903.
Sullivan MO, Blake C, Cunningham C, Boyle G, Finucane C. Correlation of accelerometry with clinical balance tests in older fallers and non-fallers. Age and Ageing 2009;38(3):308-313.
Lundin-Olsson L, Nyberg L, Gustafson Y. Attention, frailty and falls: the effect of a manual task on basic mobility. J Am Geriatr Soc 1998;46(6):758-61.
Di Fabio RP, Seay R. Use of the “fast evaluation of mobility, balance, and fear” in elderly community dwellers: validity and reliability. Phys Ther 1997;77(9):904–917.
Nikolaus T, Bach M, Oster P, Schlierf G. Prospective value of self-report and performance-based tests of functional status for 18-month outcomes in elderly patients. Aging 1996;8(4):271–276.
Thompson M, Medley A. Performance of individuals with Parkinson’s disease on the timed up and go. J Neurologic Phys Ther 1998;22(1):16–21.
Thorbahn LD B, Newton RA. Use of the berg balance test to predict falls in elderly persons. Phys Ther 1996;76(6):576-585.
Steffen TM, Hacker TA, Mollinger L. Age- and gender- related test performance in community-dwelling elderly people: six minute walk test, berg balance scale, timed up & go test, and gait speeds. Phys Ther 2002;88(2):128-137.
Berg WP, Alession HM, Mills EM, Tong C. Circumstances and consequences of falls in independent community-dwelling older adults. Age and aging 1997;26(4):261-268.
Muri SW, Berg K, Chesworth B, Speechley M. Use of the berg balance scale for predicting multiple falls in community-dwelling elderly people: a prospective study. Phys Ther 2008;88(4):449-459.
Lajoie Y, Gallagher SP. Predicting falls within the elderly community: comparison of postural sway, reaction time, the berg balance scale and the activities-specific balance confidence (ABC) scale for comparing fallers and non-fallers. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 2004;38(1):11-26.
Duncan PW, Studenski S, Chandler J, Prescott B. Functional reach: predictive validity in a sample of elderly male veterans. J Gerontol 1992;47(3):93-98.
Duncan PW, Weinter DK, Chandler J, Studenski S. Functional reach: a new clinical measure of balance. J Gerontol 1990;45(6):192-7.
Wallmann HW. Comparison of elderly non fallers and fallers on performance measures oh functional reach, sensory organization, limits of stability. J Gerontol 2001;56(9):580-583.
Wernick-Robinson M, Krebs DE, Giorgetti MM. Functional reach: does it really measure dynamic balance?. Arch Phys Med Rehabi 1999;80(3):262–269.
Cho CY, Kamen G. Detecting balance deficits in frequent fallers using clinical and quantitative evaluation tools. J Am Geriatr Soc1998; 46(4):426–430.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
