Reference group data for the functional gait assessment.
OBJECTIVE
The Functional Gait Assessment (FGA) is a clinical tool for evaluating performance in walking. The purpose of this study was to determine age-referenced norms for performance on the FGA in community-living older adults.


METHODS
Subjects were 200 adults, ages 40 to 89 years, living independently.


METHODS
Each subject completed the FGA one time and was scored simultaneously by 2 testers.


RESULTS
The intraclass correlation coefficient for interrater reliability was .93. Mean scores for the FGA ranged from 29/30 for adults in their 40s to 21/30 for adults in their 80s.


CONCLUSIONS
Patient performance on the FGA can be compared with age-referenced norms for expected performance. Further research is needed to determine the FGA's usefulness in tracking clinical changes or predicting falls. The FGA is a reliable test for people without disease, and it is able to detect decreases in gait performance among typical older adults.
Walker
Martha L
ML
School of Physical Therapy, Health Sciences Building, Room 3118, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA. mlwalker@odu.edu
Austin
Alvis G
AG
Banke
Gina M
GM
Foxx
Suzanne R
SR
Gaetano
Lynn
L
Gardner
Laurie A
LA
McElhiney
Jill
J
Morris
Kisiah
K
Penn
Liz
L
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results