title: Unipedal stance testing as an indicator of fall risk among older outpatients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the hypothesis that a decreased unipedal stance time (UST) is associated with a history of falling among older persons.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-three subjects underwent a standardized history and physical examination and three trials of timed unipedal stance.
  
  
  METHODS
  The electroneuromyography laboratories of tertiary care Veterans Administration and university hospitals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ambulatory outpatients 50 years and older referred for electrodiagnostic studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  UST and fall histories during the previous year.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty subjects (38%) reported falling. Compared with the subjects who had not fallen, those who fell had a significantly shorter UST (9.6 [SD 11.6] vs 31.3 [SD 16.3] seconds, using the longest of the three trials, p < .00001). An abnormal UST (<30sec) was associated with an increased risk of having fallen on univariate analysis and in a regression model (odds ratio 108; 95% confidence interval 3.8, >100; p < .007). The sensitivity of an abnormal UST in the regression model was 91% and the specificity 75%. When UST was considered age was not a predictor of a history of falls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  UST of <30sec in an older ambulatory outpatient population is associated with a history of falling, while a UST of > or = 30sec is associated with a low risk of falling.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor 48109-0042, USA.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Hurvitz
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Werner
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ruhl
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Dixon
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000368:Aged; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D004856:Postural Balance; D011843:Radiculopathy / Q000175:diagnosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D016474:Weight-Bearing