Balance dysfunction and the resultant falls and injuries, loss of confidence, alterations to lifestyle and overall health costs are a major problem to older people in Australia. The magnitude of these problems highlights the need for improved identification of those who may be at risk of falls, and for evaluation of the effectiveness of management programs which target both these individuals, and those who have established balance dysfunction. At the commencement of these studies, there was a need for validation or modification of several key balance related measures. These are reviewed in Chapter 2. The Chattecx Balance System was selected as a tool to measure postural stability under both static and dynamic conditions. Retest reliability of the test protocol on the Chattecx Balance System was evaluated in a group of healthy older women tested at weekly intervals. Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC’s) were high for the dynamic test conditions (ICC>0.81), but poor for static test conditions (ICC<0.55). A learning effect was evident, necessitating the incorporation of a practice session on the Chattecx Balance System before formal measurements were undertaken. In addition the Nicholas Manual Muscle Tester, a hand held dynamometer used to evaluate leg muscle strength, was found to have acceptable levels of retest reliability.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:767454 |
| Date | January 1997 |
| Creators | Hill, Keith David |
| Publisher | St George's, University of London |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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