[Alusti test as a premonitory variable of adverse health events in a nursing home. Two-years follow-up]

Functional capacity is a good indicator of health, quality of life, and a good predictor of morbimortality. It is a priority to functionally assess the geriatric population through objective, precise, and simple instruments. The Alusti Test in its two versions, complete (TA) and abbreviated (TAA), is a scale that meets these criteria.

To determine the usefulness of the Alusti Test as a predictor of adverse health events: falls, hospitalizations, cognitive deterioration, and mortality in the elderly institutionalized population, with a two-year follow-up.

This observational study's sample included 176 persons admitted to a nursing home for 32months, with a mean age of 85.5years. The TA was performed on 138 and the TAA on 38.

The ratio of falls is much higher in residents with mild dependence than in those with total dependence (P<.001). Hospitalizations increase as the results of the Alusti Test are more favorable. The risk of hospitalization in dependent patients is 50% lower (P<.001) than in those with preserved mobility. Cognitive impairment is similar in all the populations with some mild-moderate level of functional dependence and decreases in the population with preserved mobility. Categorization as total and mild/severe dependence is related to a 3-4times higher mortality at six months follow-up.

A higher mild-moderate level of dependence on the AT correlates with a lower risk of falls, a lower rate of hospitalization, and a higher risk of mortality at six months.