Bogle Thorbahn L D, Newton R A
Department of Physical Therapy, Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital, Malvern, PA 19355, USA.
Phys Ther. 1996 Jun;76(6):576-83; discussion 584-5. doi: 10.1093/ptj/76.6.576.
The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Berg balance test could be used to predict an elderly person's risk of falling.
Sixty-six residents of two independent life-care communities, aged 69 to 94 years (X = 79.2, SD = 6.2), participated.
Subjects completed a questionnaire pertaining to their fall history and activity level. The Berg balance test, consisting of 14 functional subtests, was then administered. Six months later, subjects again completed the questionnaire.
Performance of activities of daily living predicted 43% of the subjects' scores. There was a difference between the subjects who were prone to falling and those who were not prone to falling, but the test demonstrated poor sensitivity for predicting who would fall. The specificity of the test was very strong. The use of an assistive device was a strong predictor of performance on the Berg balance test. No relationship was noted between increasing age and decreasing performance on the Berg balance test.
Although the Berg balance test demonstrated only 53% sensitivity, the results support the test developers' use of 45 (out of 56) as a generalized cutoff score. Older adults who scored higher than the cutoff score on the test were less likely to fall than were those adults who scored below the cutoff score. Decreased scores, however, did not predict increased frequency of falls. Results must be viewed cautiously because self-report was the sole means of documenting fall history.
本研究的目的是确定伯格平衡测试是否可用于预测老年人的跌倒风险。
来自两个独立生活护理社区的66名居民参与了研究，年龄在69至94岁之间（X = 79.2，标准差 = 6.2）。
受试者完成了一份关于其跌倒史和活动水平的问卷。随后进行了由14个功能子测试组成的伯格平衡测试。六个月后，受试者再次完成问卷。
日常生活活动表现可预测43%受试者的得分。易跌倒者和不易跌倒者之间存在差异，但该测试在预测谁会跌倒方面敏感性较差。该测试的特异性很强。使用辅助设备是伯格平衡测试表现的有力预测指标。未发现年龄增长与伯格平衡测试表现下降之间存在关联。
尽管伯格平衡测试仅显示出53%的敏感性，但结果支持测试开发者将56分中的45分作为通用的临界分数。在测试中得分高于临界分数的老年人比得分低于临界分数的老年人跌倒的可能性更小。然而，分数降低并不能预测跌倒频率增加。由于自我报告是记录跌倒史的唯一方式，因此结果必须谨慎看待。
