Fall risk assessment

The POMA (Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment) Tinetti test is a method of a comprehensive assessment of balance and dexterous mobility of the examined person. It is a clinical prophylaxis tool, which is very frequently applied at walking and balance disorders⁶. The POMA Tinetti test applied in this study was composed of two parts. The first one included nine positions, relating to the assessment of balance in sitting, rising, standing, turning, and sitting down. The second part covered seven positions, which were assessing walk considering its initiation, step length and height, step symmetry, walking path, and body position. For each position, the examined woman could score 0, 1, or 2 points, and the maximum score was 28 points. Final result below 26 points indicated the existence of the fall risk, and scoring less than 19 points meant risk that was five-times higher^{6, 11}. The test reliability index was ICC = 0.93, sensitivity 64%, and specificity 66% for distinguishing patients with and without a fall¹¹.

Timed Up and Go Test (TUG) is a modification of the Get Up and Go Test developed by Podsiadło and Richardson, which consists in replacing the five-grade point assessment with test completion time measurement. This is the simplest form of assessment of walking and balance. The task of the examined person was to rise from a chair (the seat height 46 cm) from a sitting position with her back leaning against the chair backrest, then walk a distance of 3 m in a flat terrain, cross the line bordering on the determined stretch of path, turn around by 180°, return to the chair, and sit down again. The test completion time was measured from the "start" command issued to the person sitting on the chair until the moment of taking up the sitting position again. The examined persons were asked to complete the task as quickly as possible, yet in a pace, which was safe for them^{6, 11, 12}. When interpreting the result, the lack of a risk fall was assumed at the time below 10 s, while scores between 10 and 20 s constituted a low risk of fall, with a high risk of fall upon scores exceeding 20 s⁶.