Table 4 Summary table of the Berg Balance Scale test as a falls assessment tool
Review | Review characteristics | Risk of bias | Summary of key findings | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Lee [29] | Systematic review without meta-analysis Study (n = 4) Mixed settings | High | Community dwelling older people (n = 1): - 61% sensitivity, 53% specificity, 49% positive predictive value, AUC = 0.59 Outpatient stroke clinics (n = 3): - 69% sensitivity, 65% specificity, 64% positive predictive value, 70% negative predictive value, AUC = 0.69 (0.58–0.80) - 85% sensitivity, 49% specificity, 55% positive predictive value, 83% negative predictive value Cut off < 49, 83% specificity, 91% specificity, 71% positive predictive value, 95% negative predictive value | Favourable for outpatient stroke population |
Nakamura [20] | Narrative review No details on characteristics | High | No data to extract | Unclear |
Neuls [33] | Systematic review without meta-analysis (n = 9) 4 studies with adults with neurological disorders | High | Sensitivity ranges from 25% t0 95.5% Specificity ranged from 20.8 to 100% Calculated cut-off scores ranging from 33 to 54. | Not favourable |
Park [12] | Meta-analysis (n = 5, 427 participants) Community-dwelling | High | Pooled sensitivity was 0.73 (95% CI 0.65–0.79). Heterogeneity among studies was high (82.7%; χ2 = 23.09, P = .0001). Pooled specificity was 0.90 (95% CI 0.86–0.93), and heterogeneity among articles was low (31.9%; χ2 = 5.87, P = .21). sROC AUC was 0.97 (standard error [SE] = 0.02) | Favourable |
Scott [35] | Systematic review without meta-analysis (n = 4) Mixed settings | High | Community (n = 3): - reported in one study as 53% sensitivity and 96% specificity Supportive housing (n = 1): - significant predictor with score < 45 indicating a relative risk for multiple falls over the next 12 months. Acute: no data to extract | Inconsistent |
Dolatabadi [26] | Systematic review without meta-analysis (n = 1) Older adults with diagnosis of dementia | Unclear | One study reported on BBS and no significant findings reported. | Not favourable |
Lusardi [9] | Meta-analysis (n = 4) Community-dwelling | Unclear | BBS < 50 points, positive likelihood ratio 3.4, negative likelihood ratio 0.7, posttest probability with a positive test 59%, posttest probability with a negative test 23%. Sensitivity 41% and specificity 88% | Favourable |
Lima [11] | Systematic review without meta-analysis (n = 8) Mixed settings | Low | BBS low to moderate sensitivity achieving its best value of 67% for 6-month using a cut-off score of 45 points for any falls, and 69% for 12-month follow-up, using a cut off score of 53 points for multiple falls. | Not Favourable |
Muir [42] | Meta-analysis (n = 1*) Community-dwelling | Low | One study with non-significant results on fall prediction, meta-analysis not completed for this measure. | Not favourable |