COMPARISON BETWEEN FIELD BALANCE TESTS AND FORCE PLATFORM

Several balance tests have been used to identify postural control and the risk of falls in the elderly. However, it is not known which tests better reflect effectively the ability to maintain balance. The objective of this study was to compare a number of field tests (FT) designed to determine balance with stabilometric tests using force platforms (FP) to determine whether these tests are able to discriminate differences in balance between young and older adults. Twenty-one young (21.7 +/- 2.0 years) and 18 older adults (69.3 +/- 7.0 years) of both genders volunteered to participate in the study. The field tests were: Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Performance Oriented Mobility Assessment (POMA), Functional Reach (FR) and Timed Up and Go Test (TUGT). The variables analyzed in the FP were: center of pressure displacement in the anteroposterior (AMP-AP) and medio-lateral direction (AMP-ML) and total sway of the center of pressure (TRAJ-CP). The subjects were evaluated in five conditions of 60s each. One-way ANOVA was applied to determine differences in balance tests between groups (young x elderly). In addition, the Spearman correlation test was used to identify the correlation between FT and FP. The FTs were able to discriminate young from elderly (p <= 0.05). The FP tests also discriminated groups, except for AMP-AP in two experimental conditions. The correlation coefficients indicated that the tests BBS (r =-0.43 +/- 0.04) and TUGT (r = 0.45 +/- 0.10) showed the largest correlation with the FP tests (p = 0.05). Thus, these field tests should be preferred among the other balance tests. The results of the other tests are questionable since they seemed unable to discriminate the balance performance between young and elderly subjects.