Correlation between precise and simple tests in recovery of dynamic balance function after intravenous sedation with midazolam in the elderly.

PURPOSE

Assessing the recovery of dynamic balance after intravenous sedation in the elderly is important for ensuring their safe discharge, especially when they are walking. A reliable, simple dynamic balance test would be useful in daily clinical practice. We observed the recovery of balance after intravenous sedation with midazolam, using computerized dynamic posturography (CDP), and we evaluated the correlation between the CDP result and the results of simple dynamic balance tests.

METHODS

Midazolam was administered in divided doses, until the Wilson sedation score reached 3, in 18 elderly male volunteers. The dynamic balance test using CDP with perturbation stimuli was performed before and after sedation. As simple dynamic balance tests, the usual-speed walking (USW) and maximum-speed walking (MSW) tests and a modified timed "up and go" (TUG) test (subjects stand up from a chair, walk 5 m forward and return to the chair with MSW, and sit down again) were performed.

RESULTS

The recovery times (defined as the time until the significant difference between the value at each time point and the baseline value disappeared) in the dynamic balance test (CDP), USW test, MSW test, and TUG test, were 80, 40, 80, 80 min, respectively. There was a significant, strong positive correlation between the result of the dynamic balance test (CDP) and the TUG test (P < 0.01; r = 0.70).

CONCLUSION

The TUG test is a useful simple dynamic balance/motor test that can be used in daily clinical practice in the elderly.