TY - JOUR
T1 - Quantitative trunk sway and prediction of incident falls in older adults
AU - Mahoney, Jeannette R.
AU - Oh-Park, Mooyeon
AU - Ayers, Emmeline
AU - Verghese, Joe
N1 - Funding Information:
Research was supported by funding from the National Institute on Aging (R01AG036921-01A1 & R01AG044007-01A1) and the Resnick Gerontology Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. We express our gratitude to the CCMA participants and research assistants for their assistance with data collection.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017
PY - 2017/10
Y1 - 2017/10
N2 - Poor balance and balance impairments are major predictors of falls. The purpose of the current study was to determine the clinical validity of baseline quantitative static trunk sway measurements in predicting incident falls in a cohort of 287 community-dwelling non-demented older Americans (mean age 76.14 ± 6.82 years; 54% female). Trunk sway was measured using the SwayStar™ device, and quantified as angular displacement in degrees in anterior-posterior (pitch) and medio-lateral (roll) planes. Over a one-year follow-up period, 66 elders (23%) reported incident falls. Anterior-posterior angular displacement was a strong predictor of incident falls in older adults in Cox proportional hazards models (hazard ratio adjusted for age, gender, education, RBANS total score, medical comorbidities, geriatric depression scale score, sensory impairments, gait speed, and history of fall in the past 1 year ((aHR) = 1.59; p = 0.033) whereas, angular displacement in the medio-lateral plane was not predictive of falls (aHR = 1.35; p = 0.276). Our results reveal the significance of quantitative trunk sway, specifically anterior-posterior angular displacement, in predicting incident falls in older adults.
AB - Poor balance and balance impairments are major predictors of falls. The purpose of the current study was to determine the clinical validity of baseline quantitative static trunk sway measurements in predicting incident falls in a cohort of 287 community-dwelling non-demented older Americans (mean age 76.14 ± 6.82 years; 54% female). Trunk sway was measured using the SwayStar™ device, and quantified as angular displacement in degrees in anterior-posterior (pitch) and medio-lateral (roll) planes. Over a one-year follow-up period, 66 elders (23%) reported incident falls. Anterior-posterior angular displacement was a strong predictor of incident falls in older adults in Cox proportional hazards models (hazard ratio adjusted for age, gender, education, RBANS total score, medical comorbidities, geriatric depression scale score, sensory impairments, gait speed, and history of fall in the past 1 year ((aHR) = 1.59; p = 0.033) whereas, angular displacement in the medio-lateral plane was not predictive of falls (aHR = 1.35; p = 0.276). Our results reveal the significance of quantitative trunk sway, specifically anterior-posterior angular displacement, in predicting incident falls in older adults.
KW - Aging
KW - Falls
KW - Older adults
KW - Static balance
KW - Trunk sway
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U2 - 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2017.07.115
DO - 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2017.07.115
M3 - Article
C2 - 28797962
AN - SCOPUS:85026842753
SN - 0966-6362
VL - 58
SP - 183
EP - 187
JO - Gait and Posture
JF - Gait and Posture
ER -