TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Validity and relative ability of 4 balance tests to identify fall status of older adults with type 2 diabetes
JO  - Journal of geriatric physical therapy
A1  - Marques, Alda
A1  - Silva, Alexandre
A1  - Oliveira, Ana
A1  - Cruz, Joana
A1  - Machado, Ana
A1  - Jácome, Cristina
SP  - 227
EP  - 232
VL  - 40
IS  - 4
N2  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The Berg Balance Scale (BBS), the Balance Evaluation Systems Test (BESTest), the Mini-BESTest, and the Brief-BESTest are useful tests to assess balance; however, their psychometric properties have not been studied well in older adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D). This study compared the validity and relative ability of the BBS, BESTest, Mini-BESTest, and Brief-BESTest to identify fall status in older adults with T2D. <br><br>METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional design. Sixty-six older adults with T2D (75 ± 7.6 years) were included and asked to report the number of falls during the previous 12 months and to complete the Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale. The BBS and the BESTest were administered, and the Mini-BESTest and Brief-BESTest scores were computed based on the BESTest performance. Receiver operating characteristics were used to assess the ability of each balance test to differentiate between participants with and without a history of falls. <br><br>RESULTS: The 4 balance tests were able to identify fall status (areas under the curve = 0.74-0.76), with similar sensitivity (60%-67%) and specificity (71%-76%). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The 4 balance tests were able to differentiate between older adults with T2D with and without a history of falls. As the BBS and the BESTest require longer application time, the Brief-BESTest may be an appropriate choice to use in clinical practice to detect fall risk.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1539-8412
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1519/JPT.0000000000000109
ID  - ref1
ER  -