Meta- analysis demonstrated fallers perform significantly worse than non-fallers on all measures analysed except the Timed Up and Go Cognitive ( p < 0.05 ) , but discriminative ability of the measures is commonly not reported .
Of those reported , the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale had the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve value ( 0.92 ) , but without reporting corresponding measures of clinical utility .
Conclusion : Clinical measures of balance differ significantly between fallers and non-fallers but have poor predictive ability for falls risk in people with multiple sclerosis
Objective : To determine the ability of clinical measures of balance to distinguish fallers from non-fallers and to determine their predictive validity in identifying those at risk of falls .
Fall risk in people with MS: A Physiological Profile Assessment study
Introduction The Physiological Profile Assessment ( PPA ) is used in research and clinical practice for assessing fall risk . We compared PPA test performance between people with multiple sclerosis ( MS ) and healthy controls , determined the fall-risk profile for people with MS and developed a reference data base for people with MS . Methods For this study , 416 ambulant people with MS ( 51.5 ± 12.0 years ) and 352 controls ( 52.8 ± 12.2 years ) underwent the PPA ( tests of contrast sensitivity , proprioception , quadriceps strength , reaction time and sway ) with composite fall-risk scores computed from these measures . MS participants were followed prospect ively for falls for 3 months . Results The MS participants performed significantly worse than controls in each PPA test . The average composite fall-risk score was also significantly elevated , indicating a “ marked ” fall risk when compared with controls . In total , 155 MS participants ( 37.3 % ) reported 2 + falls in the follow-up period . Frequent fallers performed significantly worse than non-frequent fallers in the contrast sensitivity , reaction time and sway tests and had higher PPA composite scores . Conclusions In line with poor PPA test performances , falls incidence in people with MS was high . This study provides comprehensive reference data for the PPA measures for people with MS that could be used to inform future research and clinical practice
Meta- analysis demonstrated fallers perform significantly worse than non-fallers on all measures analysed except the Timed Up and Go Cognitive ( p < 0.05 ) , but discriminative ability of the measures is commonly not reported .
Of those reported , the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale had the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve value ( 0.92 ) , but without reporting corresponding measures of clinical utility .
Conclusion : Clinical measures of balance differ significantly between fallers and non-fallers but have poor predictive ability for falls risk in people with multiple sclerosis
Objective : To determine the ability of clinical measures of balance to distinguish fallers from non-fallers and to determine their predictive validity in identifying those at risk of falls .