Improvement of measurement of the Functional Reach Test and relationship between physical fi tness items

: focusing on elderly people

Abstract

　Functional Reach Test (FRT) can be used to examine the balance ability. It is started from quiet starting position without any support. The present study proposed the modifi ed starting position to test FRT, which means “heels and shoulders touch the wall”. We reported the reliability and validity of this test for healthy adults. The present study compared the normal and modified starting positions of the FRT in elderly people. The subjects were 12 senior citizens (79.0 ± 8.2 years old) in the welfare house. Measurements were anterior translation of center of pressure (COP), traveling length of COP, one foot standing, timed up and go test (TUGT), 10 m maximum walking speed, chair sit-and-reach test, the 30-sec chair stand test (CS-30 test), grip strength, and stick reaction time. As a result, the normal starting position FRT showed statistically no signifi cant correlation with all the measurements. On the other hand, the modifi ed starting position FRT showed signifi cant correlations with anterior translation of COP (r = 0.789), COP traveling length with eyes closed (r = -0.622), TUGT (r = -0.707) and 10 m maximum walking speed (r = -0.667). From these results, the modifi ed starting position FRT was demonstrated as a more effective method to measure the balance function for elderly people.