Background: Balance disorders are a major cause of falls and the most common geriatric syndromes
threatening the independence and affecting the health outcome of elderly people and it reduced level
of function.
Objective: The study aimed to assess the effects of balance disorders on health outcomes of elderly
people. A cross-sectional study was conducted and comprised 114 elderly (60 years and above) from
the elderly home, Damanhur. Their demographic characteristics, balance measurements and health
outcomes have been evaluated. Data was collected according to the Arabic version of 12-item short
form of health outcomes. The Berg Balance Scale (BBS) was used to evaluate balance. The Timed
Up and Go (TUG) test was used to measure basic functional mobility. Flexibility was assessed by a
sit and reach test, to determine the level of fear of falling in daily life by the visual analogue scale
(VAS) was used.
Results: One-third of the participants (33.3%) had a history of falls once or more. The most reported
morbidities were hypertension and diabetes mellitus (43.9% and 26.3%, respectively).The BBS
scores were significantly associated with physical and social health domains, (r = 0.625,p=0.042, and
r =0.19, p =0.048).While it was negatively correlated with the psychological health domain (r = -
0.16,p =0.087). A positive correlation was observed between the health outcome (SF-12 scores) and
BBS, flexibility (r =0.016, 0.082, and 0.119).Whereas, fear of falling was negatively associated with
all measured parameters except the flexibility (r = 0.063). The majority of the participants, (80.7%)
had moderate health-related quality of life.
Conclusion: The assessment of falling risks and body balance of the elderly in elderly homes will
guide the implementation of suitable intervention programs to improve body balance, reduce falling
and its consequences among elderly.