Association of the Japanese Version of the Mini-Balance Evaluation Systems Test with Agility and Fall Risk Identification for Rehabilitation Patients

Abstract

[Purpose] To clarify the relationship between agility and the Japanese version of the Mini-Balance Evaluation Systems Test (Mini-BESTest), and to examine its ability to identify fall risk. [Participants and Methods] This study included 31 inpatients, outpatients, and day-care rehabilitation users at our hospital. We calculated whole-body reaction time and step time from four-direction choice reaction time and analyzed their relationships with the Mini-BESTest total score. Patients were divided into two groups based on whether they had experienced a fall within the past year. The area under the curve (AUC) was calculated from the ROC curve of each group, and the fall discrimination ability of each indicator was compared. [Results] Mini-BESTest showed a negative correlation with whole-body reaction time and step time. The AUC ranged from 0.77 to 0.84 for each indicator, with no significant differences being observed. [Conclusion] Mini-BESTest correlates with agility; however, caution is advised when utilizing it to identify fall risk.