History of Falls, Imbalance, and Vestibular Balance Tests of a Group Screened in a Health Social Fair

Introduction: Changes of body balance are among the most common complaints of the elderly. The falls can be devastating, resulting in injury or death.

Objective: To describe the history of falls and imbalance dynamic and static balance tests of a group screened in a health social fair.

Method: Fall history was ascertained in an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Vestibular balance testing consisted of dynamic and static Balance tests.

Results: We evaluated 47 patients, and 53.2% men and 46.8% women, average age of 61.9 years. The analysis of the replies to the questionnaire showed that 61.7% of the subjects reported that have already fallen and 48.9% were hurt after a fall and 23.4% needed to be hospitalized; 59.5% of the subjects are afraid of falling and 36.2% report that their families and friends are afraid that they fall; 17.2% reported that they avoid making activities away from home for fear of falling; 21.2% avoid making activities next to their house. In dynamic and static balance tests, it has been observed that when the test was carried out with eyes open, 72 to 95% of the subjects were able to make them, but with eyes closed this index ranged from 34 to 91%, with the lowest index occurring in proof of Unterberg.

Conclusion: The fear of falling is prevalent among the subjects, being threaten to the autonomy of the patient. It is important to implement actions of prevention of falls in this group of individuals through vestibular rehabilitation programs.