Association between the occurrence of falls and the performance on the Incremental Shuttle Walk Test in elderly women.

BACKGROUND Because the incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT) requires agility in its performance, we hypothesized that the test may be associated with balance and risk of falls in the elderly. OBJECTIVE To evaluate and compare the association between the performance on the ISWT, the timed up and go (TUG) and the occurrence of falls in the elderly. METHOD Thirty-three elderly individuals (68±7 years) performed the TUG and the ISWT. Balance was assessed using the Berg Scale (BBS). Participants who fell at least twice in the last 12 months were placed in the "falls" group (FG) and all other participants comprised the control group (CG). RESULTS There were seventeen elderly women in the FG and 16 in the CG. Participants from the FG had a significant worse performance (p<0.05) on the TUG (8.01±0.22 vs. 6.22±0.21 s), BBS (51±3 vs. 55±1 points) and ISWT [313±79 (92±15%pred.) vs. 395±75 m (113±19%pred.)] than participants from the CG. The ISWT significantly correlated with the TUG (r=-0.75, p<0.001), BBS (r=0.50, p=0.002) and number of falls (r=0.36, p=0.031). After logistic regression, the TUG was determinant (p=0.03) and the ISWT showed a tendency to determine the occurrence of falls (p=0.05). CONCLUSION The ISWT was a valid measure to assess the risk of falls and balance and therefore, may be useful for the simultaneous assessment of cardiorespiratory fitness and balance in older women.