AUTHOR=Caronni Antonio , Picardi Michela , Scarano Stefano , Malloggi Chiara , Tropea Peppino , Gilardone Giulia , Aristidou Evdoxia , Pintavalle Giuseppe , Redaelli Valentina , Antoniotti Paola , Corbo Massimo 

TITLE=Pay attention: you can fall! The Mini-BESTest scale and the turning duration of the TUG test provide valid balance measures in neurological patients: a prospective study with falls as the balance criterion

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2023.1228302

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2023.1228302

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=Background. Balance, i.e. the ability not to fall, is often poor in neurological patients, and this impairment contributes to increasing their fall risk. The Mini-Balance Evaluation System Test (Mini-BESTest), a rating scale, the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test and gait measures are commonly used to quantify balance. This study assesses the criterion validity of these measures as balance measures.Methods. The balance criterion was the probability of being a faller within nine months. The Mini-BESTest, TUG (instrumented with inertial sensors) and walking test were administered before and after inpatient rehabilitation. Multiple and LASSO logistic regressions were used for the analysis. The models' diagnostic accuracy was assessed with the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic curve. Mobility measures validity was compared with the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC).Results. Two hundred fourteen neurological patients (stroke, peripheral neuropathy or parkinsonism) were recruited; 82 fell at least once in the nine-month follow-up. The Mini-BESTest (AUC=0.69; 95%CI: 0.62-0.76), the duration of the TUG turning phase (AUC=0.69; 0.62-0.76), and other TUG measures were significant faller predictors in regression models. However, only the turning duration (AIC=274.0) and Mini-BESTest (AIC=276.1) substantially improved the prediction of a baseline This is a provisional file, not the final typeset article model which only included fall risk factors from the medical history (AIC=281.7). The LASSO procedure selected gender, disease chronicity, urinary incontinence, the Mini-BESTest and turning duration as optimal faller predictors.The TUG turning duration and the Mini-BESTest predict the chance of being a faller. Their criterion validity as balance measures in neurological patients is substantial.