footpad-type locomotion interface (GTLI) with those of gait training using a body-weight support treadmill (BWST) in chronic post-stroke patients. Design: ...
e96 Research Poster 629 Do Objective Measures of Balance Correlate With Falls in Dementia Patients? Sai Yalla (Rosalind Franklin Univeristy of Medicine and Science), Ryan Crews, Shaheera Khan, Vasanth Subramanian, Phil Schoenrock, Valerie Chavez, Ricardo Senno Research Objectives: This pilot study investigated the correlation between objective measures of balance and falls in dementia patients. Design: Validation cohort. Falls incidence data was collected for the period 3 months prior to administration of balance tests and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE)[1,2] through 3 months after testing. Balance tests included a modified Romberg’s balance test performed under eyes open (EO) and closed (EC) conditions [3], and a functional reach (FR) test [4,5]. FR test required subjects in a standing position to push a sliding scale as far forward as possible without stepping. Body worn sensors (LEGSys, BioSensics) provided objective measures of motion during tests. Setting: Two memory-care specialized assisted living communities. Participants: 18 dementia patients (9 male, 9 female) aged 83.7(10.3) completed the ongoing study. Interventions: None. Main Outcome Measure(s): Center of Mass (COM) sway area for balance tests, FR distance and ankle-hip coordination during FR tasks. Results: The distribution of dementia severity was: 5 Mild, 7 Moderate, 5 Severe and 1 unclassified. Falle’s among moderate and severe dementia patients fell 3.5(2) times on average compared to 2(0) in the mild group. COM sway area was 81% (p
