Discriminative Ability of the Four Balance Measures for Previous Fall Experience in Turkish Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to compare the discriminative properties (discriminative effect, sensitivity, specificity, and cutoff values) of four commonly used balance measures for nonfallers, fallers, and multiple fallers among Turkish community-dwelling older adults. Methods: Three hundred fifty-one community-dwelling older adults (122 fallers and 229 nonfallers) were evaluated with the timed up and go test, functional reach test, one-leg stance test, and Berg Balance Scale (BBS). Results: Timed up and go test and functional reach test were not sensitive in detecting group differences between fallers and nonfallers, and BBS and one-leg stance test had significant but limited discriminative power with cutoff values of 53.5 points and 7.50 s, respectively. In addition, timed up and go test, functional reach test, and one-leg stance test had significant but limited discriminative power, and BBS had acceptable discriminative power for older adults who fell multiple times. Conclusions: These findings suggest that BBS is the most suitable tool for assessing the fall risk of Turkish community-dwelling older adults.