Quantitative trunk sway and prediction of incident falls in older adults.
Jeannette R Mahoney, Mooyeon Oh-Park, Emmeline Ayers and 1 others
PMID 28797962WHAT IT FOUND
Forward-backward trunk sway during standing predicted future falls in older adults, but side-to-side sway did not.
The test had low sensitivity, so it should not replace a full fall risk assessment.
Key findings
01Anterior-posterior angular displacement at baseline predicted incident falls in older adults.
02Medio-lateral angular displacements were similar between fallers and non-fallers and did not predict incident falls.
03Using a cut-off of 1.88° displacement in the anterior-posterior plane, the sensitivity for detecting incident falls was 31.8% and specificity was 77.4%.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study excluded people with dementia, Parkinson's disease, or significant sensory/mobility impairments, so results may not apply to more disabled patients. The 10-second standing test had low sensitivity, meaning it missed most people who went on to fall. The study only looked at standing balance with eyes open; it did not test conditions like eyes closed or uneven surfaces.
Declared interests
The authors declared no commercial or financial conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use this trunk sway test as a standalone screen to rule out fall risk. Its low sensitivity (31.8%) means it misses the majority of older adults who will go on to fall.