Kato-Narita Eliane Mayumi, Nitrini Ricardo, Radanovic Marcia
Center of Reference in Cognitive Disorders Behavioural and Cognitive Neurology Group, Hospital das Clínicas, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2011 Apr;69(2A):202-7. doi: 10.1590/s0004-282x2011000200012.
To analyze the correlation between balance, falls and loss of functional capacity in mild and moderate Alzheimer's disease(AD).
40 subjects without cognitive impairment (control group) and 48 AD patients (25 mild, 23 moderate) were evaluated with the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and the Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD). Subjects answered a questionnaire about falls occurrence in the last twelve months.
Moderate AD patients showed poorer balance (p=0.001) and functional capacity (p <0.0001) and it was observed a correlation between falls and balance (r= -0.613; p=0.045).
There is a decline of balance related to AD which is a factor associated to the occurrence of falls, albeit not the most relevant one. The loss of functional capacity is associated with the disease's progress but not to a higher occurrence of falls. The balance impairment did not correlate with functional decline in AD patients.
分析轻度和中度阿尔茨海默病（AD）患者平衡能力、跌倒与功能能力丧失之间的相关性。
采用伯格平衡量表（BBS）和痴呆症残疾评估量表（DAD）对40名无认知障碍的受试者（对照组）和48名AD患者（25名轻度患者，23名中度患者）进行评估。受试者回答了一份关于过去十二个月内跌倒发生情况的问卷。
中度AD患者的平衡能力（p = 0.001）和功能能力较差（p < 0.0001），并且观察到跌倒与平衡之间存在相关性（r = -0.613；p = 0.045）。
AD患者存在与平衡能力下降相关的情况，这是跌倒发生的一个相关因素，尽管不是最主要的因素。功能能力丧失与疾病进展相关，但与跌倒发生率升高无关。AD患者的平衡功能损害与功能衰退无相关性。
