Assessing gait and balance impairment in elderly residents of nursing homes.
Adrianna Borowicz, Ewa Zasadzka, Agnieszka Gaczkowska and 2 others
PMID 27799676WHAT IT FOUND
In nursing home residents, slower Timed Up and Go and lower Tinetti POMA scores were linked with more falls over the last year.
Berg Balance did not track falls, and One-Legged Stance could be used in only 46%.
Key findings
01Across 153 residents, more falls were significantly associated with longer TUG times, lower POMA scores, and lower OLST scores, but not with BBS scores.
02Fallers had a mean TUG time of 20.75 seconds and mean POMA score of 19.1 points, while non-fallers had a mean TUG time of 16.5 seconds and mean POMA score of 21.4 points.
03Only 46% of the 153 subjects could be assessed with the OLST test.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study was observational and used falls in the previous 12 months, not future falls, so it cannot show that the tests predict a patient's next fall. Residents had to walk 3 m and score over 18 points on the MMSE, so more impaired or cognitively impaired residents were excluded. Only 46% of the 153 residents could do the OLST test. This limits what the study can say about that test in this population. The study was done in 5 nursing homes in Poznan, Poland, so results may not apply to other settings.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that these tests predict future falls. The study linked test scores with falls in the previous 12 months, and BBS did not significantly correlate with fall count.