Salwa B El-Sobkey1. 1. Rehabilitation Health Sciences Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. selsobkey@ksu.edu.sa
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of 4 common clinical balance tests and history of fall in Saudi community-dwelling older people. METHODS: This retrospective study took place in the Rehabilitation Health Sciences Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University. Older people were recruited from Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from September 2009 to June 2010. Four balance performance tests were used. Inclusion criteria for 60-85 year-old participants (n=48) were checked. RESULTS: Fallers had lower balance performance than non-fallers in the test-battery measures with significance difference for one leg stance test with open (p=0.001) and closed eyes (p=0.0001). One leg stance with closed eyes test showed an overall prediction capability (83.2%), high sensitivity (79.2%), and specificity (87.5%). CONCLUSION: This study shows that Saudi community-dwelling older people fallers had compromised balance performance, and that one leg stance test with closed eyes was the best balance test associated with history of fall.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of 4 common clinical balance tests and history of fall in Saudi community-dwelling older people. METHODS: This retrospective study took place in the Rehabilitation Health Sciences Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University. Older people were recruited from Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from September 2009 to June 2010. Four balance performance tests were used. Inclusion criteria for 60-85 year-old participants (n=48) were checked. RESULTS: Fallers had lower balance performance than non-fallers in the test-battery measures with significance difference for one leg stance test with open (p=0.001) and closed eyes (p=0.0001). One leg stance with closed eyes test showed an overall prediction capability (83.2%), high sensitivity (79.2%), and specificity (87.5%). CONCLUSION: This study shows that Saudi community-dwelling older people fallers had compromised balance performance, and that one leg stance test with closed eyes was the best balance test associated with history of fall.