Diagnostic Balance Tests for Assessing Risk of Falls and Distinguishing Older Adult Fallers and Non-Fallers: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis
Open Access
- 2 September 2020
- journal article
- review article
- Published by MDPI AG in Diagnostics
- Vol. 10 (9), 667
- https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics10090667
Abstract
Falls are a major cause of injury and morbidity in older adults. To reduce the incidence of falls, a systematic assessment of the risk of falling is of paramount importance. The purpose of this systematic review was to provide a comprehensive comparison of the diagnostic balance tests used to predict falls and for distinguishing older adults with and without a history of falls. We conducted a systematic review of the studies in which instrumented (force plate body sway assessment) or other non-instrumented balance tests were used. We analyzed the data from 19 prospective and 48 retrospective/case-control studies. Among the non-instrumented tests, the single-leg stance test appears to be the most promising for discrimination between fallers and non-fallers. In terms of body sway measures, the center-of-pressure area was most consistently associated with falls. No evidence was found for increased benefit of the body sway test when cognitive tasks were added, or the vision was eliminated. While our analyses are limited due to the unbalanced representation of different test and outcome measures across studies, we can recommend the single-leg test for the assessment of the risk of falling, and the measurements of body sway for a more comprehensive assessment.This publication has 101 references indexed in Scilit:
- Dynamic Parameters of Balance Which Correlate to Elderly Persons with a History of FallsPLOS ONE, 2013
- Instruments for assessing the risk of falls in acute hospitalized patients: a systematic review and meta-analysisBMC Health Services Research, 2013
- Relation between risk of falling and postural sway complexity in diabetesGait & Posture, 2012
- Physical and functional factors in activities of daily living that predict falls in community-dwelling older womenGeriatrics & Gerontology International, 2011
- Mobility Assessment: Sensitivity and Specificity of Measurement Sets in Older AdultsArchives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2011
- Test-Retest Reliability of Measurements of the Center of Pressure Displacement in Quiet Standing and During Maximal Voluntary Body Leaning Among Healthy Elderly MenJournal of Human Kinetics, 2011
- Predicting the probability of falls in community-dwelling elderly individuals using the trail-walking testEnvironmental Health and Preventive Medicine, 2010
- Development of a tool for prediction of falls in rehabilitation settings (Predict_FIRST): A prospective cohort studyJournal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 2010
- Sensory interaction on static balance: A comparison concerning the history of falls of community‐dwelling elderlyGeriatrics & Gerontology International, 2009
- Tests of Stepping as Indicators of Mobility, Balance, and Fall Risk in Balance‐Impaired Older AdultsJournal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2004