Evaluation of the Risk of Falls by Examination of Vibration Sense Using a Tuning Fork

Abstract

[Purpose] In this study, we examined the relationship between vibration sense and falls, and calculated the cutoff scores of vibration sense to distinguish fallers from nonfallers. [Subjects] The subjects of this study were 63 elderly persons who were able to walk by themselves, who had no disorders of cognitive function on the central nervous system. [Methods] The subjects were divided into a fallers group and a nonfallers group based on their history of falls, and they were assessed for vibration sense using a tuning fork and three performance tests (Timed "up & go" test, Modified functional reach test, Timed 10 m walk test). [Results] The vibration sense of fallers was significantly lower than that of nonfallers (p<0.01). We observed a correlation between vibration sense and each performance test. The area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve of vibration sense was larger than that for each performance test (0.89). Vibration sense at a cutoff score of 5.62 seconds had strong sensitivity to falls (82%) and specificity (83%). [Conclusion] These results suggest that the examination of vibration sense using a tuning fork is useful for predicting the risk for falls. ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR