Postural instability in idiopathic Parkinson's disease: discriminating fallers from nonfallers based on standardized clinical measures.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) predisposes one to falls, which in turn may lead to serious injury and decreased quality of life. Therefore, it is critical to accurately identify those at risk of falling so that preventive measures may be properly applied.

Methods: Forty-nine participants (25 retrospectively identified fallers and 24 nonfallers) with a diagnosis of idiopathic PD were included in this study.