Abstract
Portegijs E, Edgren J, Salpakoski A, Kallinen M, Rantanen T, Alen M, Kiviranta I,
Sihvonen S, Sipilä S. Balance confidence was associated with mobility and balance
performance in older people with fall-related hip fracture: a cross-sectional study.
Objective
To study the relationship between balance confidence, a concept closely related to
fear of falling, mobility and balance performance, and perceived mobility limitation
in older people after a fall-related hip fracture.
Design
Cross-sectional analyses of pretrial data of 2 randomized controlled trials of physical
rehabilitation.
Setting
University research center.
Participants
Community-dwelling people aged over 60 years, 6 weeks to 7.5 years after a fall-related
hip fracture (N=130).
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
The main outcome was the self-reported Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC)
scale score. Assessments also included perceived ability to walk outdoors or climb
1 flight of stairs, and assessments of self-preferred walking speed, modified Timed-Up-and-Go
test, and Berg Balance Scale.
Results
Higher ABC scale scores were related to better mobility and balance performance (ρ>.47)
and perceived mobility function (ρ>.54). In univariate general linear models, all
associations also remained significant after adjustment for age, sex, time since fracture,
number of chronic diseases, and either level of physical activity or muscle strength
of the fractured leg. An ABC scale score <85 points identified those with mobility
and balance limitation across measures.
Conclusions
In people who have had a fall-related hip fracture, an independent relationship exists
between balance confidence and mobility and balance performance as well as perceived
mobility function. Since lack of balance confidence may compromise rehabilitation
and recovery, the ABC scale may help to identify older hip fracture patients with
mobility and balance limitation.
Key Words
List of Abbreviations:
ABC ( Activities-specific Balance Confidence), BBS ( Berg Balance Scale), TUG ( Timed-Up-and-Go)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: June 13, 2012
Footnotes
Current affiliations: Department of Medical Rehabilitation, Oulu University Hospital, and Institute of Health Sciences, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland (Alen); Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University of Helsinki, and Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland (Kiviranta); and School of Health and Social Studies, JAMK University of Applied Sciences, Jyväskylä, Finland (Sihvonen).
Supported by Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, Kela–The Social Insurance Institution of Finland, Juho Vainio Foundation, and Finnish Cultural Foundation. The funders had no further interest or involvement in the design, methods, subject recruitment, data collection, analysis, and preparation of the manuscript. Gerontology Research Center is a joint effort between the University of Jyväskylä and the University of Tampere.
Clinical Trial Registration Nos.: ISRCTN34271567 and ISRCTN53680197.
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.
In-press corrected proof published online on Aug 9, 2012, at www.archives-pmr.org.
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
