title: Reference group data for the functional gait assessment.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: School of Physical Therapy, Health Sciences Building, Room 3118, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA. mlwalker@odu.edu
authors.forename: Martha L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Alvis G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.forename: Gina M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Banke
authors.forename: Suzanne R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Foxx
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gaetano
authors.forename: Laurie A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Gardner
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McElhiney
authors.forename: Kisiah
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: Liz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Penn
mesh_terms: 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