Abstract
[Purpose] The purposes of this study were to investigate the age-related differences in balance ability of elderly individuals and to verify the clinical usefulness of the Functional Reach Test (FRT) in comparison with the Sensory Organization Test (SOT) for balance evaluation of this subject group. [Subjects] The subjects were 46 community-dwelling elderly people aged over 65 years old. [Methods] Balance was measured using the FRT and the six sub-equilibrium sessions and composite equilibrium score of the SOT. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the relationships among these balance measures. [Results] The <75 years old group showed significantly better balance ability than the ≥75 years old group. Significant positive correlations were found between the FRT and both the eyes-closed sway-surface (EC/SS) section (r=0.79) and the composite equilibrium score (r=0.55) of the SOT. [Conclusion] It is possible to use the FRT as a quantitative measure of balance for elderly individuals rather than the SOT, which is more expensive and complicated to evaluate.
