Kinesiology, Vol. 47. No. 1., 2015.
Original scientific paper
Assessment of balance abilities in elderly people by means of a clinical test and a low-cost force plate
Francesco Sgrò
orcid.org/0000-0002-2062-4908
; Faculty of Human and Society Sciences, University of Enna “Kore”, Enna, Italy
Danilo Licari
; Faculty of Human and Society Sciences, University of Enna “Kore”, Enna, Italy
Roberto Coppola
; Faculty of Human and Society Sciences, University of Enna “Kore”, Enna, Italy
Mario Lipoma
; Faculty of Human and Society Sciences, University of Enna “Kore”, Enna, Italy
Abstract
Balance and mobility assessment, and the estimation of the risk of falls, represent crucial elements for supporting a healthy aging process. In this work, we evaluated the association of two approaches used to
estimate standing balance and sit-to-stand abilities in community-dwelling older people. The clinical-based test was the Short Physical Performance Battery, while the laboratory-based assessments were realized by means of output measures obtained with the Wii Balance Board. The correlation between clinical scores and laboratory measures showed poor association for the standing balance test (.05
for sit-to-stand ability levels. These findings seem to support the feasibility of using the Wii Balance Board for the assessment of balance and sit-to-stand abilities in elderly people. Therefore, medical practitioners could use this device with the clinical test for obtaining more useful information for their analysis.
Keywords
standing balance assessment; sit-to-stand assessment; short physical performance battery; Wii Balance Board
Hrčak ID:
140249
URI
Publication date:
29.6.2015.
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