Gait Speed Cut-Off Point as a Predictor of Fear of Falling in Older Adults

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Jiraphat Nawarat
Murnee Daraman
Wanwisa Suttara
Julalak Jitsawang
Orapan Mee-Ngern

Abstract

Older adults with fear of falling (FOF) often reduce gait speed and restrict their activity, leading to decrease in quality of life. The objective of this study was: to study cut-off point of gait speed to predict FOF in female older adults. Sixty community-dwelling older women aged between 60-79 years were assessed FOF using Fall Efficacy Scale; FES (Thai version) and preferred gait speed using 10-Meter Walk Test. The Receiving Operator Characteristics (ROC) Curve was used to analyze the cut-off point. The results showed that based on FES cut-off score (22 point), 40 participants were assigned to FOF and 20 to no-FOF group. Gait speed cut-off point to predict FOF in this study was 0.95 m/s (sensitivity 70 %, specificity 60 %). The accuracy of prediction measured by area under ROC curve was 0.749. The conclusion of the study is that gait speed cut-off point can be used to predict FOF including to set goal of treatment and follow up the effectiveness of physical therapy program for improvement of walking ability.

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Research Articles