title: Fall risk in Chinese community-dwelling older adults: A physiological profile assessment study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The short-form Physiological Profile Assessment (PPA) is increasingly used in clinical practice for assessing fall risk in older people. However, a normative database is only available for Caucasian populations. The purpose of the present study was to develop a normative database for Hong Kong Chinese older people and examine the fall risk profile of this population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 622 participants aged 60-95 years were recruited. Participants underwent the PPA (containing tests of contrast sensitivity, proprioception, quadriceps strength, reaction time and sway), and composite fall risk scores were computed. Participants were then followed up for falls for 1 year.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Quadriceps strength and lower limb proprioception scores were comparable with those reported for Caucasian populations. However, contrast sensitivity, simple reaction time and postural sway scores were relatively poor. The average composite fall risk score was 1.7 ± 1.5, showing a "moderate" fall risk when compared with the Caucasian norms. Despite the relatively poor physical performances and moderately high fall risk scores, the incidence of one plus falls in the 1-year follow-up period was just 16.4%, with just 2.6% reporting two plus falls. The area under the curve for composite fall risk scores in discriminating fallers from non-fallers was 0.53 (95% CI 0.45-0.60).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite poorer performance in PPA tests, the incidence of prospective falls in a Hong Kong Chinese population was low. In consequence, the PPA could not discriminate well between fallers and non-fallers. The present study provided normality data for short-form PPA measures for older Chinese people as a reference for further studies.
authors: School of Optometry, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors: Kar-Ho
authors: KH
authors: Siong
authors: Falls and Balance Research Group, Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors: Marcella Mun-San
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3317-5056
authors: MM
authors: Kwan
authors: Falls and Balance Research Group, Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors: Stephen R
authors: SR
authors: Lord
authors: School of Optometry, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors: Andrew Kwok-Cheung
authors: AK
authors: Lam
authors: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors: William Wai-Nam
authors: WW
authors: Tsang
authors: School of Optometry, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors: Allen Ming-Yan
authors: AM
authors: Cheong
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment
keywords: accidental falls; assessment; balance; older adults; vision