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Clinical and posturographic correlates of falling in Parkinson's disease
Johnson, Liam James, Ian Rodrigues, Julian Stell, Rick Thickbroom, Gary Mastaglia, Frank
Johnson, Liam
James, Ian
Rodrigues, Julian
Stell, Rick
Thickbroom, Gary
Mastaglia, Frank
Abstract
Various clinical tests and balance scales have been used to assess postural stability and the risk of falling in patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease ( IPD ). Quantitative posturography allows a more objective assessment but the findings in previous studies have been inconsistent and few studies have investigated which posturographic measures correlate best with a history of falling. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of clinical tests, balance scales, and stable-platform posturography in detecting postural instability and discriminating between fallers and non-fallers in a home-dwelling PD cohort. Forty-eight PD subjects ( Hoehn & Yahr stage 1–3 ) and 17 age-matched controls had the following assessments: Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale, Berg Balance Scale, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale ( UPDRS ) ( motor ), pull-test, timed up-and-go, static posturography, and dynamic posturography to assess multidirectional leaning balance. Of the clinical assessments, all but the pull-test were closely correlated with a history of falling. Static posturography discriminated between PD fallers and controls but not between PD fallers and non-fallers, whereas dynamic posturography ( reaction time, velocity, and target hit-time ) also discriminated between fallers and non-fallers. Our findings suggest that this combination of clinical and posturographic measures would be useful in the prospective assessment of falls risk in PD patients. A further prospective study is now required to assess their predictive value.
Keywords
Parkinson's disease, postural instability, falls, static and dynamic posturography
Date
2013
Type
Journal article
Journal
Movement Disorders
Book
Volume
28
Issue
9
Page Range
1250-1256
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Behavioural and Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
File Access
Controlled