The analysis of our outcomes illustrates the similarities and differences between the identified tests
Assessment s of gait , balance , and transfer in elderly people play a valuable role in maintaining healthy aging and preventing a decline in mobility .
Several evaluation tools have been proposed ; however , clinicians should select the most accurate ones wisely , based on numerous criteria .
This systematic review aims to identify all applicable elderly mobility assessment tests and show their measurement properties with as much detail as possible .
The comparative ability of eight functional mobility tests for predicting falls in community-dwelling older people.
BACKGROUND numerous tests have been suggested as fall risk indicators . However , the validity of these assessment s has not been demonstrated in large representative sample s of community-dwelling older people . OBJECTIVE the objective of this study was to examine the comparative ability and clinical utility of eight mobility tests for predicting multiple falls in older community-dwelling people . METHODS design -- prospect i ve cohort study ; subjects--362 subjects aged 74 - 98 years ; measurements --the sit-to-st and test with one and five repetitions , the pick-up-weight test , the half-turn test , the alternate-step test ( AST ) , the six-metre-walk test ( SMWT )  and  stair ascent and descent tasks . Falls were monitored for 1 year with fall calendars . RESULTS in the 12-month follow-up period , 80 subjects ( 22.1 % ) suffered two or more falls . Multiple fallers performed significantly worse than non-multiple fallers in the sit-to-st and test with five repetitions ( STS-5 ) , the AST , the  half-turn test  , the  SMWT  and the stair-descent test .  When dichotomised using cut-off points from receiver-operated characteristics ( ROC ) curve analyses , these tests demonstrated reasonable sensitivity and specificity in identifying multiple fallers . A principal components analysis identified only one factor underlying the mobility tests . Poor performances in two mobility tests , however , increased the risk of multiple falls more than poor performance in one test alone ( ORs = 3.66 , 95 % CI = 1.44 , 9.27 and 1.61 , 95 % CI = 0.62 , 4.16 respectively ) . CONCLUSIONS the mobility tests appear to be measuring a similar ' mobility ' construct . Based on feasibility and predictive validity , the AST , STS-5 and SMWTs were the best tests
The analysis of our outcomes illustrates the similarities and differences between the identified tests
Assessment s of gait , balance , and transfer in elderly people play a valuable role in maintaining healthy aging and preventing a decline in mobility .
Several evaluation tools have been proposed ; however , clinicians should select the most accurate ones wisely , based on numerous criteria .
This systematic review aims to identify all applicable elderly mobility assessment tests and show their measurement properties with as much detail as possible .