The Study Of Dynamic Posture Control By The Star Excursion Balance Test In Community Elderly Women

Objectives: Based on the comparative analysis of star excursion balance test andother postural control tests, to find out the reliability and validity of star excursionbalance test in community elderly individual, attempt to provide the evidence on therisk assessment of falling in the elderly women, thus provide experimental evidenceon falls prevention in community elderly individual.Methods and Subjects:340eligible healthy elderly women with aged51to89(67.0±9.3), who lived in the community, measured by the star excursion balancetest (SEBT),timed up and go test (TUG), functional reach test(FRT),30-second chairstand test(CS-30),and Win-pod balance instrument. Participants are all informedconsent.198elderly women (67.2±8.8) were assigned to the fall group (n=73,71.5±8.3) and non-fall group (n=125,64.7±8.1) based on the criteria with fallinghistory within the past one year. Finally we use “Statistical Package for SocialScience for Windows20.0” analyzed all the data.Results:1.Reliability of star excursion balance test: Internal consistency reliability coefficients(ICC) of the SEBT with right leg ranging from0.986to0.992(p<0.05). Internalconsistency reliability coefficients of SEBT with left leg ranging from0.986to0.992.2. Validity of star excursion balance test: SEBT is moderate negative correlation withTimed up and Go Test, pearson correlation coefficient is-0.540to-0.680(p<0.01).SEBT is low positive correlation with Functional Reach Test, pearson correlationcoefficient is0.295to0.523(p<0.01). SEBT is moderate positive correlation with30-Second Chair Stand Test, pearson correlation coefficient is0.530to0.656(p<0.01).SEBT is very low negative correlation with length of centre-of-gravity, pearsoncorrelation coefficient is-0.077to-0.23(p<0.05). SEBT is very low negativecorrelation area of centre-of-gravity, pearson correlation coefficient is-0.118to-0.231(p<0.01).3. Correlation between star excursion balance test and fall: After eliminating theinfluence of age factor, there was a significant decreasing performance in the fallgroup compared to the non-falls group in anteromedial (AM), posterior (PO),posterolateral(PL), lateral(LAT) and anterolateral(AL) directions of star excursionbalance test (p＜0.01). Area under the curve (AUC)of fall and right leg of SEBT is0.649to0.765. Area under the curve (AUC)of fall and left leg of SEBT is0.724to0.790. Posterior direction of SEBT with left leg has the largest of area under the curve.The SEBT was found to be a sensitive (sensitivity=76.8%) and specific(specificity=72.5%) measure for identifying elderly women who are prone to fall. Conclusions:1. Star excursion balance test is a reliable and valid dynamic posture control test inhealthy community elderly individual. Between the ages of50-59, SEBT may bemore applicable than the TUG for assessment of dynamic postural control incommunity elderly people.2. Based on the results of receiver operating characteristic curve(ROC), Posterior ofleft leg is the most sensitive direction of SEBT for identifying elderly women who areprone to fall. Recommended emphasizes the functional exercise of posterior in theelderly fitness guidance.