Comparison of mini-bestest and dynamic gait index for prediction of fall susceptibility in old individuals

. Miqdad; Sushil Kumar Pawar

doi:10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20172980

Authors

. Miqdad Department of Physiotherapy, Shadan College of Physiotherapy, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Sushil Kumar Pawar Department of Physiotherapy, Sushrutha Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Hyderabad, Telangana, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20172980

Keywords:

Dynamic gait index, Falls, Mini-BESTest

Abstract

Background: Emphasis on early identification, prevention, and intervention of fall risk in elderly people is becoming increasingly important in the fields of physical therapy and rehabilitation.

Methods: Various scales are currently used for assessment of balance and fall risk. We have selected, MiniBESTest and DGI for our present study. We compared scores of Mini-BESTest and DGI in 30 elderly subjects with mean age of 62.23±4.38yrs. These subjects included 17 completely normal individuals, whereas 13 subjects were having early clinical features of fall-related disorders. Example: Parkinsonism, vertigo and paresis.

Results: The data indicated that Mini-BESTest is more superior than DGI to indicate the fall risk in normal elderly population. Similarly, in cases of paresis and Parkinsonism, results are indicating that Mini-BESTest is better suited than the DGI. But in cases of vertigo, the results indicate that DGI is more superior than Mini-BESTest.

Conclusions: An interesting finding is that the DGI scale seems to be more superior in subjects having vertigo (Refer Table-4), which is to be verified by further studies in a larger sample. The point which justifies the above conclusion is that the DGI scale includes many items which test the vestibular apparatus.

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Author Biography

. Miqdad, Department of Physiotherapy, Shadan College of Physiotherapy, Hyderabad, Telangana, India

Assistant Professor

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