How's Your Balance?

Dual- and Single-Leg Quiet Standing Tests

The dual- and single-leg quiet standing tests are static balance assessments used to quantify postural sway under eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions. These tests will be performed on a force plate to determine Romberg ratios. The Romberg ratio compares sway when visual input is removed to sway when visual input is available, providing an index of visual dependence and sensory contribution to upright balance.

Anthropometric Information

We will collect information about the participants: age, sex, race, ethnicity, fall history, diagnosis of prediabetes or diabetes, diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy, etc. No Protected Health Information (PHI) will be collected.

PROMIS® Physical Function v2.0 PROWalk

Nine items were selected from the 165 items comprising the PROMIS Item Bank v2.0 - Physical Function. Specifically, the selected items measure an individual's ability to perform various activities that involve upright mobility (balance, standing, and walking). Participants rate the nine items on a scale of 1 to 5; the raw scores are converted to T-scores for comparison to national norms.

Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale-6 (ABC-6)

Powell and Myers developed the 16-item Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale to detect levels of balance confidence in older adults. Schepens et al. (2009) validated a 6-item version of the ABC, using the six most challenging activities from the 16-item scale. The six tasks are rated on a scale of 0 to 100; a score of 0 indicates no confidence and a score of 100 indicates complete confidence when performing the task. The overall score is calculated by adding the individual items then dividing by the total number of items (6). The higher the score, the greater the person's balance confidence; thus, higher scores indicate that subjects are more confident of their balance.

International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)-Short Form

The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) is a standardized self-report instrument used to assess physical activity across populations. It captures time spent walking, performing moderate and vigorous physical activity, and sitting, typically over the previous 7 days. The IPAQ is available in short and long forms; the short form is commonly used for surveillance and prevalence studies. Responses can be scored to estimate total physical activity, often expressed as MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task)-minutes per week, and to classify activity levels as low, moderate, or high.