Scores on the safe functional motion test are associated with prevalent fractures and fall history

The Safe Functional Motion test (SFM) was developed to measure observed body mechanics and functional motion associated with spine load, balance, strength, and flexibility during everyday tasks to profile modifiable risks for osteoporotic fracture. This cross-sectional study evaluated the associations between SFM score and history of vertebral compression fracture (VCF), hip fracture, and injurious falls, all established predictors of future risk.

An osteoporosis clinic database was queried for adults with an initial SFM score and corresponding data for prevalent VCF and/or hip fracture, femoral neck bone mineral density (fnBMD), and history of injurious fall (n=847). Multiple logistic regressions, adjusted for age, gender, and fnBMD (and injurious falls in the prevalent fracture analyses), were used to determine whether associations exist between SFM score and prevalent VCF, prevalent hip fracture, and history of injurious fall.

SFM score was associated with prevalent VCF (odds ratio [OR]=0.89; 95% CI, 0.79-0.99; p=0.036), prevalent hip fracture (OR=0.77; 95% CI, 0.65-0.92; p=0.004), and history of injurious fall (OR=0.80; 95% CI, 0.70-0.93; p=0.003) after adjusting for other important covariates.

Adults with higher SFM scores ("safer motion" during performance of everyday tasks) were less likely to have a history of fracture or injurious fall. Further study is warranted to evaluate the predictive value of this tool.