BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of clinical parameters associated with falls in the elderly has become a major challenge for the scientific community. Despite the existence of several tools aiming to assess body balance in the elderly, it is still scarce the number of studies that have investigated and discussed the agreement between different methods. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the correlation between tests used to assess the body balance in the elderly. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, observational study conducted with 30 healthy female community-dwelling elderly volunteers with different levels of physical conditioning. The Functional Reach Test (FRT), the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), the Timed Up and Go (TUG) and the Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment of Balance (POMA) were used. The data analysis was performed by using the Spearmam's rank correlation coefficient, with a significance level of 5% (p<0.05). RESULTS: There was positive and moderate correlation between the FRT and BBS (r=0.4845, p=0.0067), between FRT and POMA (r=0.4136, p=0.0231), and between BBS and POMA (r=0.6088, p=0.0004). CONCLUSION: The tests are complementary since they showed specific and distinct limitations. It is reasonable, therefore, to use these instruments together to get better assessment of elderly body balance.
BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of clinical parameters associated with falls in the elderly has become a major challenge for the scientific community. Despite the existence of several tools aiming to assess body balance in the elderly, it is still scarce the number of studies that have investigated and discussed the agreement between different methods. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the correlation between tests used to assess the body balance in the elderly. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, observational study conducted with 30 healthy female community-dwelling elderly volunteers with different levels of physical conditioning. The Functional Reach Test (FRT), the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), the Timed Up and Go (TUG) and the Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment of Balance (POMA) were used. The data analysis was performed by using the Spearmam's rank correlation coefficient, with a significance level of 5% (p<0.05). RESULTS: There was positive and moderate correlation between the FRT and BBS (r=0.4845, p=0.0067), between FRT and POMA (r=0.4136, p=0.0231), and between BBS and POMA (r=0.6088, p=0.0004). CONCLUSION: The tests are complementary since they showed specific and distinct limitations. It is reasonable, therefore, to use these instruments together to get better assessment of elderly body balance.
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Authors: Carly de Faria Coelho; Ernesto Cesar Pinto Leal-Junior; Daniela Aparecida Biasotto-Gonzalez; André Serra Bley; Paulo de Tarso de Camillo de Carvalho; Fabiano Politti; Tabajara de Oliveira Gonzalez; Adriano Rodrigues de Oliveira; Marcelo Frigero; Marilia Barbosa Santos Garcia; Almir Vieira Dibai-Filho; Cid André Fidelis de Paula Gomes Journal: Trials Date: 2014-06-11 Impact factor: 2.279
Authors: Caroline D C Altermann; Alexandre S Martins; Felipe P Carpes; Pâmela B Mello-Carpes Journal: Braz J Phys Ther Date: 2014 Mar-Apr Impact factor: 3.377
Authors: Amanda Gilvani Cordeiro Matias; Marília de Andrade Fonsêca; Maria de Lourdes de Freitas Gomes; Marcos Antonio Almeida Matos Journal: Einstein (Sao Paulo) Date: 2016 Jan-Mar