OBJECTIVES Clinicians often base the implementation of therapies on the presence of postural instability in subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD). These decisions are frequently based on the pull test from the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). We sought to determine whether combining the pull test, the one-leg stance test, the functional reach test, and UPDRS items 27-29 (arise...

BACKGROUND A body of literature is emerging regarding gait/balance impairments observed in essential tremor (ET) patients. Although impairment is generally mild, the full extent of the spectrum remains undefined. We present four ET cases with more severe gait/balance impairment. METHODS A BATTERY OF SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE GAIT/BALANCE ASSESSMENTS WAS PERFORMED: the Activities-specific Balan...

QUESTIONS What is the intra-rater and inter-rater relative reliability of the Berg Balance Scale? What is the absolute reliability of the Berg Balance Scale? Does the absolute reliability of the Berg Balance Scale vary across the scale? DESIGN Systematic review with meta-analysis of reliability studies. PARTICIPANTS Any clinical population that has undergone assessment with the Berg Balance...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently used balance assessments show a ceiling effect and lack activities essential for community mobility in higher-functioning older adults. The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of the Community Balance and Mobility (CB&M) Scale in a high-functioning community-dwelling older adult population since the CB&M Scale includes assessment of...

Introduction: Falls are considered as the major health problem in ageing and the damages caused by falls (such as fractures, disability, heavy costs on government and family, and death) are the major concern of the World Health Organization. So, determination of risk factors and specific ways to prevent falls in the elderlies are of great importance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ef...

This study expands upon the Hastings et al (2018) on use of heel lifts to change static postural alignment in persons with Parkinson's Disease (PD) and further explores whether provide improvements dynamic gait parameters, Timed Up Go (TUG) scores, balance confidence. Outcome measures were taken without place, at two data collection dates. Photographs analyzed for using ImageJ software video wa...

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between balance confidence and community-based physical activity. Twenty-two community-dwelling patients with right or left unilateral transtibial amputation who reported no falls in the past 6 mo completed the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC) and wore a StepWatch Activity Monitor for 7 consecutive d in the community. S...

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a respiratory disease that results in airflow limitation and respiratory distress, also having many nonrespiratory manifestations that affect both function and mobility. Preliminary evidence suggests that balance deficits constitute an important secondary impairment in individuals with COPD. Our objective was to investigate ba...