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Predicting Falls in Healthy Elderly: A Comparison between Unified Balance Scale versus Four-Square Step Test

Background: Falls is a major incidence in elderly life and its sequence may be a major cause of mortality. Falls can be predicted and thus prevented. Screening scales are either a brief one component balance or more composite multifactorial assessment. Four Square Step test is an easy, less time consuming, versus Unified Balance scale which is multi domain. The present study was intended to see which of the two scales could accurately predict adults who were at risk of falls. Thus, helping therapist perform a single test to screen them and give them targeted treatment.
Method: 80 Healthy elderly above the age of 60 years were included in the study. Fall history was noted post which Four Square Step test and Unified Balance Scale was administered in sequence. Data Analysis was done, and sensitivities and specificities were calculated.
Result: Statistical Analysis was done by plotting the contingency table and plotting the Receiver Operating Curve. The Unified Balance Scale had a better combination of sensitivity and specificity than Four Square step test.
Conclusion: Unified Balance scale is better than Four-Square step test in predicting falls in healthy elderly.

Key words: Elderly, Fall-Risk, Screening, Four Square Step Test, Unified Balance Scale, Prediction.