The CS-30 test is a useful assessment tool for predicting falls in community-dwelling elderly people

Abstract

[Purpose] Lower-extremity muscle weakness is a risk factor for falls in elderly people. Although the 30-seconds chair-stand test (CS-30 test) has recently been widely used as a simple assessment tool for lower-extremity muscle strength, few reports evaluating the relationship between the CS-30 test and falls have so far been published. The purpose of this study was to investigate the usefulness of the CS-30 test as an assessment tool for predicting falls. [Subjects and Method] The subjects were 135 community-dwelling elderly people who performed the CS-30 test, and the relationship between CS-30 and history of falls was investigated. [Results] Based on the Receiver-Operating-Characteristic (ROC) curve of the CS-30 test, the statistically, most effective cut-off point was 14.5 times. As a result of logistic regression analysis with a fall used as the dependent variable, the validity of the cut-off point was confirmed. The degree of sensitivity to falls was 88%, and the specificity was 70%, when the cut-off point was 14.5 times. Furthermore, the AUC based on the ROC curve was 85.2%. [Conclusion] These results suggest that the CS-30 test is a useful assessment tool for predicting falls in community-dwelling elderly people.