Relationship between Thai-FRAT, balance mobility and leg strength in elderly people
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: The Thai Falls Risk Assessment Test (Thai-FRAT) was developed and has been widely used to assess the risk of falls among Thai elderly people, both at the hospital and in the community, and also one of the fall risk assessment documents in preventive medicine guidelines as suggested by the Department of Medical Services, Ministry of Public Health. Currently, there has not the data on the relationship with actual physical function among the elderly from the Functional Assessment with the Thai Falls Risk Assessment test.
OBJECTIVE: To study the correlation among the risk of falling using the Thai-FRAT, balance ability in the elderly using the TUG test and leg muscle strength using the 30-second chair stand test as well as leg circumference.
METHODS: The study was conducted on 52 volunteers aged from 65 to 79 years living in Mae Tuen Sub-district, Li District, Lamphun Province. Data were collected by interviews. Volunteers were asked to answer questions using the assessment tools and test for relationships by using Pearson's correlation test. The significance level was set at p-value ≤ 0.01.
RESULTS: Concerning the relationship between the Thai-FRAT and TUG, 30-second stand test and calf circumference, it was found that the fall risk scores for the elderly from the Thai-FRAT were moderately correlated with TUG (r = 0.59, P-value < 0.001). The fall risk scores for the elderly from the Thai-FRAT was moderately correlated in the opposite direction with the 30-second stand test with statistical significance (r = - 0.61, P-value < 0.001). While, the correlation between the Thai-FRAT and calf circumference showed no statistically significant.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMENDATIONS: The Thai Falls Risk Assessment Test (Thai-FRAT) can be used to screen for the risk of falls instead of the TUG assessment and 30-second stand test to some extent. However, more research may be needed to evaluate them together for accuracy.
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