Balance Evaluation of Prefrail and Frail Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Abstract

The BESTest seems to be more appropriate than a force plate for assessing postural control impairment and discriminating balance performance among frail, prefrail, and nonfrail older adults, providing information about different components of postural control rather than the force plate, which evaluates sensory orientation.

<p>Frail Older Individuals Maintaining a Steady Standing Position: Associations Between Sway Measurements with Frailty Status Across Four Different Frailty Instruments</p>

“…Moreover, the aforementioned study group reported a higher prediction of frail and pre-frail status (Fried's criteria) under eyes closed conditions. In contrast, Marques et al 45 reported for 60 older adults who were divided into three groups of 20 (non-frail, pre-frail and frail), lower scores for frail in all sections and total score of the Balance Evaluation Systems Test (BESTest). At the same time, force plate measurements showed similar mean oscillation values in all three groups, indicating similar CoP behavior.…”

“…At the same time, force plate measurements showed similar mean oscillation values in all three groups, indicating similar CoP behavior. 45 While in subjects using sensors attached to the lower back during a 25 m walk to analyze postural sway, Thiede et al 36 observed no significant differences in balance parameters based on the frailty phenotype of Fried 3 in 17 participants (≥55 years) with peripheral artery disease. 36 In contrast to the aforementioned studies, the patients in the study presented here were not only evaluated in relation to the frailty phenotype but, in addition, in terms of three other major frailty instruments, utilizing a different concept of frailty.…”

“…Other authors have previously reported on postural sway parameters and frailty status in older individuals. 36,[43][44][45] Kang et al 44 found that the CoP length of sway was higher in prefrail and frail individuals compared to robust older adults from 550 older volunteers (mean age 77.9 years). Toosizadeh et al 43 showed a possible prediction of frail and pre-frail when compared to non-frail, using sensors worn on the body, in a Romberg balance assessment of 15 s with eyes open and eyes shut in 122 older adults with no major mobility disorders (age >65 years).…”

“…However, previous studies investigating this relationship between postural control and/ or equilibrium parameters and frailty status produced inconsistent results. 36,[43][44][45] A limitation of the aforementioned studies was that they categorized patients' frailty exclusively by the frailty phenotype instrument. 43 To the best of our knowledge, so far, no data has become available to enable the evaluation of postural control and/or balance in frail individuals whose frailty status has been assessed by frailty assessment tools other than the frailty phenotype instrument.…”

Balance Differences between North and South American Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional, Age and Sex Matched Study

“…In this sense, the balance might be impaired due to inability of the sensory system combined with muscle inefficiency to recover from perturbations on the COP placed by external forces ( e.g., gravity, body mass distribution, inertia) acting over stabilizing internal torques (mainly muscle and ligament forces). [ 52 , 53 ] As an example, decreased strength is related to diminished postural control, which is associated with increased risk of falls [ 53 ]. Impaired balance is also predictive of bad outcomes in older adults, such as frailty and higher prevalence of falls [ 14 , 54 , 55 ].…”