Comparison of Balance Ability in Elderly with and without History of Falls using Wii Balance Board
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Abstract
Background: Balance assessment under dynamic condition may differentiate the ability to control balance between the elderly with and without history of falls.
Objective: To compare the ability to control balance between elderly with and without history of falls using a quiet stance test, a forward reach test and an upward reach test.
Methods: Fifty community-dwelling older adults were classified into the faller group (n = 25) and the non-faller group (n = 25). All participants were tested on three balance conditions using the Wii Balance Board (WBB). Independent samples t-test was used to compare balance parameters between groups. The level of significant was set at p < 0.05.
Results: Center of pressure (COP) parameters in the faller group were significantly less than the non-faller group in the forward reach condition (COP total path length, COP displacement - AP, and COP velocity - AP) (p < 0.05) and the upward reach condition (COP total path length, COP displacement - AP, COP velocity - AP, and COP velocity - ML) (p < 0.05). No significant differences between groups were found in the quiet stance condition. The faller group had significantly less reaching distance than the non-faller group only for the upward reach condition (p = 0.002).
Conclusion: The reaching tests especially the upward reach test can detect some differences in dynamic balance performance between elderly fallers and non-fallers and may be used as fall-risk screening test.
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References
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