Sensitivity of a clinical scale of balance and gait in frail nursing home residents

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to describe this application, and to assess the sensitivity of the application when evaluating clinical interventions for improving balance and gait. Methods: The records of fifteen consecutive patients referred to physical therapy for mobility problems or recent falls were reviewed for this study. The subjects were evaluated upon initial referral to physical therapy and after 30 days of treatment. Treatment was developed around the problems noted on initial evaluation and applied 5 days/week for 20 sessions. Results: A Wilcoxon signed-rank comparison of the initial and 30 day re-evaluation of the balance and the gait assessment indicated that significant improvement had occurred in the balance scores (Z = -3.20, p = 0.002) and the gait scores (Z = -2.82, p = 0.005) in this group. Conclusion: These assessments are sensitive to clinical improvements in mobility among frail elders.