Falls are a public health concern among older adults. There is a need to take significant measures such as screening for the risk of a fall as a means of prevention and management. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine discriminative and predictive ability of physical performance measures in identifying the risk of fall among Malaysian community dwelling older adults. Three hundred twenty-five Malaysian community dwelling older adults aged 60 years and above (67.67+ 5.5 years) participated in this study. This study was a part of a larger longitudinal study 'LRGS TUA'. Physiological Profile Assessment (PPA), a comprehensive tool for quantifying risk of fall was used as a standard measure of comparison to 6 Meter Gait Speed (GS), Timed Up and Go (TUG) and Walking While Talking (WWT) tests to establish discriminative and predictive ability. Participants recorded incidence of falls in a 'falls diary' over a span of six months. To determine the optimum cut off scores of the test identified to classify fall risk, receiver operator curves (ROC) were used and its sensitivity and specificity were calculated. A significant mean difference between fallers and non-fallers was demonstrated only with TUG test (p<0.05). TUG test cut off score in discriminating older adults at risk of fall was established at eight seconds, with a sensitivity and specificity of 83.95% and 32.4%, respectively, in this study. Eighty-four percent older adults who experienced a fall in our study were identified to be at risk of fall when screened using this TUG cut off score. Our study results suggested TUG test to be an optimal screening tool for risk of fall among community dwelling older adults.
There is limited information regarding combined sociodemographic data and physical performance measures as determinants and correlates of falls among community-dwelling older adults. In this study, we aimed to identify whether sociodemographic data and physical performance measures are significant determinants and correlates for falls in community-dwelling older adults. Three hundred twenty-five Malaysian community-dwelling older adults (145 men and 180 women), aged 60 to 89 (M = 67.64, SD = 5.56) years, were recruited through multistage random samplings for this prospective study (with 6 months' follow-up). Binary logistic regression analysis was performed on the sociodemographic data and physical performance measures to determine the determinants and correlates of falls among these participants. The Physiological Profile Assessment (PPA) was the only significant (P < .05) physical performance measure that correlated with falls. The Timed Up and Go (TUG) Test and education levels were significant correlates and determinants of falls in this population, with the absence of PPA in the model. The PPA is the best physical performance measure correlate of falls among Malaysian community-dwelling older adults. However, when the PPA is not available, the TUG Test, although a simple performance tool, may be used to predict falls among community-dwelling older adults.
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