Centre for Policy on Ageing



Measures of balance and fear of falling in the elderly — a review
Author(s)	Dayle Mari Nakamura, Margo B Holm, Ann Wilson
Journal title	Physical & Occupational Therapy in Geriatrics, vol 15, no 4, 1998
Pages	pp 17-32
Source	Haworth Document Delivery Center, Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580, USA.
Keywords	Mobility ; Falls ; Evaluation ; Literature reviews.
Annotation	The five most frequently cited scales of balance - Performance Oriented Assessment of Balance (POAB), "Get Up and Go" (GUGT), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Functional Reach (FR), and Falls Efficacy Scale (FES) - were reviewed, compared and contrasted. A MEDLINE literature search was conducted for the years 1986-1996. Scales were reviewed based on six selected criteria: purpose of the scale; target population; scale reliability and validity; ease of use, mode and time needed for administration and scoring; and clinical usefulness for practitioners. The GUGT and FES were identified as screening tools, while the BBS, POAB and FR were suggested for more in-depth evaluation. A summary of the information on each scale was compiled into several tables, which may help clinicians in selecting an appropriate scale for use with patients or in clinical research studies. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-990225217 A
Classmark	C4: OLF: 4C: 64A
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.