title: The modified Romberg Balance Test: normative data in U.S. adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To generate normative values for performance on the modified Romberg Test of Standing Balance on Firm and Compliant Support Surfaces stratified by age, sex, and race/ethnicity and to determine fall risk associated with different levels of performance.
  
  
  METHODS
  National cross-sectional survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ambulatory examination centers.
  
  
  METHODS
  U.S. adults 40 years and older who participated in the 2001-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (n = 5,086).
  
  
  METHODS
  Time to failure on the modified Romberg Test of Standing Balance on Firm and Compliant Support Surfaces.
  
  
  METHODS
  History of falling in the previous 12 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We observed that the time to failure decreased with increasing age across all sex and race/ethnicity categories. We found that once individuals went below a time to failure of 20 seconds, there was a significant greater than 3-fold increase in the odds of falling. In general, participants crossed the 20-second threshold at the age of 60 to 69 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We established nationally representative normative values for performance on the modified Romberg test and noted differences in the rates of change across demographic groups. In addition, we demonstrated the fall risk associated with different levels of performance. These data will aid the clinician in interpreting and risk stratifying their patient's performance on this postural test.
authors: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA. yagrawa1@jhmi.edu
authors: Yuri
authors: Y
authors: Agrawal
authors: John P
authors: JP
authors: Carey
authors: Howard J
authors: HJ
authors: Hoffman
authors: Daniel A
authors: DA
authors: Sklare
authors: Michael C
authors: MC
authors: Schubert
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D014481:United States