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Can Timed Up and Go Test discriminate the risk of falling in patients with Multiple Sclerosis with low to moderate
Fatma Ayvat1, Ender Ayvat1, Mert Doğan2
1Faculty of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
Purpose:
The aim of the study was to discriminate the risk of falling in patients with Multiple Sclerosis with low to moderate impairment who do not use walking aid using the Timed Up and Go (TUG) Test.
Methods:
This study was planned as a prospective descriptive study with 204 patients. Falls were recorded in three-month prospective diaries, and the balance was evaluated using the TUG Test.
Results:
By using three-month prospective diaries, the mean age of 109 faller patients and 95 non-faller patients was 35.87 ± 8.35 and 35.35 ± 9.39 years, respectively. The faller group's mean TUG Test score was 9.46 ± 4.14, whereas the non-faller group's was 7.74 ± 2.02 s. The TUG Test has an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve value of 0.666 in discriminating fallers from non-fallers (0.592-0.740, %95 Cl). To identify fallers, the TUG Test score of ≥7.85 s has a sensitivity of 0.65 and a specificity of 0.65.
Conclusion:
As a result of the present study, the TUG Test was found to have moderate sensitivity and specificity in predicting the risk of falling. It is not a sufficient stand-alone measure for fall risk prediction, so it is recommended that this test be included as part of a comprehensive falls screening programme.
