Diagnostic Accuracy of Fall Risk Assessment Tools in People With Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy

Stephen D. Jernigan; Patricia S. Pohl; Jonathan D. Mahnken; Patricia M. Kluding

doi:10.2522/ptj.20120070

Figures

Figure 1.

Flow diagram depicting the relationship between the functional reach test results and the fall history assessment results. DPN=diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

Figure 2.

Fall risk assessment tool receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for traditional versus modified cutoff scores.

Tables

Table 1.

Descriptive Statistics^{^a}

↵^a All values are listed as means (standard deviations) except for sex, for which frequencies and percentages are listed. M=male, F=female, DPN=diabetic peripheral neuropathy, NCV=nerve conduction velocity, MNSI=Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument, FRT=Functional Reach Test, TUG=Timed “Up & Go” Test, BBS=Berg Balance Scale, DGI=Dynamic Gait Index.
^b Significant difference (P<.01) between recurrent fallers and nonfallers.
^c Significant difference (P<.05) between recurrent fallers and nonfallers.

Table 2.

Indexes of Diagnostic Accuracy for Fall Risk Assessment Tools: Traditional Versus Modified Cutoff Scores^{^a}

↵^a 95% CI=95% confidence interval, Trad=traditional cutoff score, Mod=modified cutoff score, FRT=Functional Reach Test, TUG=Timed “Up & Go” Test, BBS=Berg Balance Scale, DGI=Dynamic Gait Index.
^b Added 0.5 to each cell in the cross tabulation to avoid the occurrence of infinities when calculating positive and negative likelihood ratios.

Table 3.

Cross Tabulation of Fall Risk Assessment Results Using the Traditional Fall Risk Assessment Tool Cutoff Score^{^a}

↵^a FRT=Functional Reach Test, TUG=Timed “Up & Go” Test, BBS=Berg Balance Scale, DGI=Dynamic Gait Index. Recurrent fall history is considered the reference standard.

Table 4.

Cross Tabulation of Fall Risk Assessment Results Using the Modified Fall Risk Assessment Tool Cutoff Scores^{^a}

↵^a FRT=Functional Reach Test, TUG=Timed “Up & Go” Test, BBS=Berg Balance Scale, DGI=Dynamic Gait Index. Recurrent fall history is considered the reference standard.