Postural instability in Parkinson's disease

Persons with Parkinson's disease are at great risk of suffering traumatic injuries from falls. Intervention with physical therapy and the use of assistive devices are helpful in preventing falls. Unfortunately, many patients are not referred for these interventions until they have already suffered traumatic injury. A simple measure of balance, which can easily be performed in an office setting, is the functional reach. This measure has been shown to be predictive of falls in the elderly. In this study, the functional reach was measured in patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease during each visit over at least one year. Patients deemed at risk of falling were referred for physical therapy and possibly assistive devices. Those patients subsequently suffering falls were noncompliant with the recommendations.