Abstract
[Purpose] Using five motor function tests, we performed an assessment as to whether or not elderly persons had appropriate self-recognition of their motor ability and examined the the correlation with falls. [Subjects] The subjects were 76 elderly persons using a day-care service. [Methods] For five motor function tests (Functional Reach Test, Chair-Stand Test, the Matagi Test, the Harvard Step Test, Maximum Step Width) profoundly related to daily activities, we asked the participants to estimate their ability, then measured it. We created an aptness scale on the basis of the agreement of the measured value with the predicted value, and examined the relationship with falls after dichotomizing the results. [Results] For the Chair-Stand Test and Matagi Test results, the groups assessed Inapt had significantly higher proportions of persons with experience of falls than the groups assessed Apt. Also, an overall assessment of aptness, judging all 5 motor function tests, delivered a similar result. Furthermore, in investigations of sensitivity and specificity using the aptness scales as predictors of falls, the compound scale using all 5 motor function tests showed better sensitivity and specificity than the individual test scales. [Conclusion] The assessment of self-recognition of motor ability used in this study has a potential clinical application as a predictor of falls, and the results suggest the possibility that using the compound aptness scale rather than the individual test aptness scales would raise the accuracy of fall prediction.
