Clinical functional tests help identify elderly women highly concerned about falls.

Unlabelled: BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: Limited research exists on functional tests in the discrimination of elderly individuals with high concern about falls from individuals with low concern about falls. The purpose of this study was to determine which functional test best discriminates between elderly women with low and high concern about falls.

Methods: One hundred thirty-five elderly women (72.6 ± 4.8 years) were divided into two groups based on their Falls Efficacy Scale-International score: low concern (n = 56) and high concern (n = 79) about falls. Five functional tests were applied: Timed Up and Go test (TUG), unipodal stance test, five-repetition sit-to-stand test (5-STS), gait velocity, and grip strength. Factorial analysis and discriminant analysis were used.

Results: Factorial analysis resulted in three factors that explained 83.8% of the total variance. Factor 1, with 49.5% of total variance explanation, was represented by the TUG, 5-STS, and gait velocity tests and was the only factor to discriminate between the groups, classifying correctly 68.9% of the observations. Among the original variables of Factor 1, the Fisher linear coefficient showed that the TUG was the most discriminant of the tests.

Conclusion: The TUG test best discriminates elderly women with low and high concern about falls; therefore, it is an important test that should be performed during the assessment of elderly individuals afraid of falling.