title: Correlation between balance and the level of functional independence among elderly people.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  As the overall number of elderly people increases there is a corresponding rise in the number of older persons with disabilities. In order to examine whether there is any relationship between balance and activities of daily living, we evaluated balance and daily activities among elderly people living in the community.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study at Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Marília, São Paulo, Brazil.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 70 community-dwelling elderly people aged 65 and over. Balance was evaluated using the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and physical independence in daily activities was evaluated using the Barthel Index (BI). The Spearman correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between the parameters evaluated. Significance was set at the level of 5% (P < 0.05).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The population's mean age was 70.5 ± 5 years. The mean BBS score was 50.9 ± 4.1, whereas the mean BI score was 98.1 ± 2.8. Statistically significant relationships were found between the BBS and BI (r = 0.41; P = 0.0004); between age and BI (r = -0.24; P = 0.04); and between age and BBS (r = -0.57; P = 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results showed that among elderly people, there are correlations between age, balance and independence level.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Estadual Paulista, Marília, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Melina Galetti
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Prata
authors.forename: Marcos Eduardo
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Scheicher
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living; D008297:Male; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*