Postural balance in elderly people: changes over a five-year follow-up and its predictive value for survival

Postural balance in three test conditions (normal standing with eyes open, normal standing with eyes closed, and tandem standing with eyes open) was measured in samples of 75-year-old men and women (N=757) living in three Nordic localities (Glostrup in Denmark, Göteborg in Sweden, and Jyväskylä in Finland). The subjects were re-tested five years later when they had reached the age of 80 years (N=434). The results showed a highly significant longitudinal decline in balancing abilities in all localities and in both sexes. The longitudinal change was larger than suggested by cross-sectional comparisons. On both occasions women showed better results in the balance tests than men in all three localities. Inter-locality differences observed at baseline (somewhat poorer performance among the subjects from Göteborg) largely remained during the follow-up. The simplest balance test, normal standing with eyes open, was also a significant predictor for survival over the 5-year follow-up: the results at baseline were poorer in those subjects who died during the follow-up than in the survivors. It is concluded that postural balance deteriorates markedly from 75 to 80 years of age; at high ages a poor performance in balance tests may also indicate below-average survival.