Physical Therapy, College of Health Sciences, Physical Therapy Department, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA.
J Intellect Disabil Res. 2019 Jun;63(6):587-592. doi: 10.1111/jir.12600. Epub 2019 Feb 14.
The Functional Reach Test is used to assess balance of Special Olympic athletes as part of the FUNfitness screens held at Special Olympics games. However, it is unknown if the Functional Reach Test is an accurate assessment of balance in this population. The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between Functional Reach Test scores and falls in Special Olympic athletes.
Data were collected as a part of the FUNfitness screens during Arizona Special Olympics games. The Functional Reach Test scores of 272 Special Olympic athletes were recorded. Athletes were asked to report the number of falls they experienced in the last 12 months.
A two-tailed Kendall tau test revealed little to no relationship between number of falls and Functional Reach Test scores of either the left upper extremity (n = 263, τ = -0.063, P = 0.202) or the right upper extremity (n = 263, τ = -0.107, P = 0.030). Sensitivity of the Functional Reach Test to identify fallers was 28.8%, and specificity was 83.5%.
Scores of the Functional Reach Test did not correlate with actual falls. The relatively high specificity indicates the assessment is good at identifying non-fallers, while the low sensitivity results in a high number of fallers not being recognised as such. Therefore, the cut-off scores used for the Functional Reach Test in FUNfitness screenings may need to be altered to more accurately identify balance deficits in this population. FUNfitness screens need to be quick, efficient and accurate. As such, selection of the most appropriate assessment tools is essential. Consideration should be given on how to make the Functional Reach Test the most beneficial as a FUNfitness screen.
功能性伸展测试用于评估特奥会运动员的平衡能力，是特奥会 FUNfitness 筛查的一部分。然而，目前尚不清楚功能性伸展测试是否能准确评估该人群的平衡能力。本研究旨在探讨功能性伸展测试得分与特奥会运动员跌倒之间的关系。
数据是在亚利桑那州特奥会 FUNfitness 筛查期间收集的。记录了 272 名特奥会运动员的功能性伸展测试得分。要求运动员报告他们在过去 12 个月中经历的跌倒次数。
双侧 Kendall tau 检验显示，跌倒次数与左上肢（n=263，tau=-0.063，P=0.202）或右上肢（n=263，tau=-0.107，P=0.030）的功能性伸展测试得分之间几乎没有关系。功能性伸展测试识别跌倒者的敏感性为 28.8%，特异性为 83.5%。
功能性伸展测试得分与实际跌倒无关。相对较高的特异性表明该评估很好地识别了非跌倒者，而较低的敏感性导致大量跌倒者未被识别为跌倒者。因此，FUNfitness 筛查中功能性伸展测试的截止分数可能需要调整，以更准确地识别该人群的平衡缺陷。FUNfitness 筛查需要快速、高效和准确。因此，选择最合适的评估工具至关重要。应该考虑如何使功能性伸展测试成为 FUNfitness 筛查的最有益工具。
