The Relationship Between Falls History and Computerized Dynamic Posturography in Persons With Balance and Vestibular Disorders
Presented in part to the Barany Society, September 29, 2002, Seattle, WA.
Abstract
Whitney SL, Marchetti GF, Schade AI. The relationship between falls history and computerized dynamic posturography in persons with balance and vestibular disorders.
Objective
To describe the relationship between Sensory Organization Test (SOT) scores and reported falls in persons with vestibular and balance disorders.
Design
Descriptive cross-sectional.
Setting
Outpatient tertiary balance and falls clinic.
Participants
One hundred physical therapy (PT) charts of people referred to a balance and falls clinic were reviewed. Criteria for inclusion were that the patients had completed the SOT of computerized dynamic posturography (CDP), had a vestibular diagnosis, and had the numbers of falls recorded from patient report within the last 6 months at the initial examination. Rotational chair, caloric testing, oculomotor test, and Activities-Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) results were recorded, if available.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
The SOT composite and ABC scores as they related to reports of falls in the last 6 months.
Results
The overall proportion of persons with vestibular disorders with positive 6-month history for 1 or more falls was 30% and for recurrent falls (≥2) was 17%. Vestibular laboratory findings, age, sex, and vestibular diagnosis were not related to reported falls status. Patients who reported multiple falls prior to the PT examination had lower SOT composite scores than patients who reported 1 or no falls in the previous 6 months. The receiver operating characteristic curve identified a composite SOT score of less than 38 as demonstrating the highest likelihood ratio for differentiating between those people who reported no falls in the past 6 months and those who reported 2 or more falls.
Conclusions
Persons who are recurrent fallers perform worse on SOT than either nonfallers or 1-time fallers. CDP performance can help guide the clinician in the development of a safe exercise program.
Correspondence to Susan L. Whitney, PhD, PT, NCS, ATC, University of Pittsburgh, 6035 Forbes Tower, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.
Supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (grant no. DC 05384).
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors or upon any organization with which the authors are associated.
ABSTRACT