The balancing tests Functional Reach and Timed Up and Go and the risk of falls in the elderly

Abstract

The risk of falls increases with aging, becoming a public health problem. The current study aimed to identify risk factors for falls in older people and analyze if the tests of balance Functional Reach Test (TAF) and "Timed Up and Go" (TUG) identify those with increased susceptibility to fall. We conducted a prospective, cross-sectional, observational study of 155 elderly (≥ 60 years), 131 women and 24 men, attended at a public hospital in Brasília (DF). These seniors were divided into two groups: group 1, with those who reported falling in the past 12 months; and group 2, with those who denied falling in the same period. We applied a questionnaire to identify risk factors for falls and two tests to assess balance (TAF and TUG). The mean age of the studied sample was 70.65 ± 7.52 years, and 38.7% reported falls in the past 12 months. The incidence of falls was significantly higher in females, among those reporting fear of falling and who wore polypharmacy. In the multivariate analysis, polypharmacy was the only independent risk factor associated with falls. The balance tests were not significantly correlated with the occurrence of falls. It was concluded that polypharmacy was the only independent risk factor associated with falls and the balance tests TAF and TUG did not identified the elderly with increased susceptibility to fall.