Beckman, E. Billek-Sawhney, B. Holbein-Jenny, MA, & T. Smith; Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA. maryann.holbein@sru.edu.

PURPOSE: Fall risk assessment is critical in working with the elderly population. The Multidirectional Reach Test (MRT) is a reliable tool for assessing falls in this population. With clinicians facing limited time in performing fall risk screens, clinicians may choose to perform the forward functional reach subtest rather than all four subtests to determine an individual’s fall risk potential. The purpose of this study was to investigate the four subtests of the MRT and in elderly residents of a personal care home to determine if the forward functional reach test provided the same information as each of the four subtests are necessary when performing balance assessments. SUBJECTS: Twenty-one female and five male residents of a personal care home, 74 to 92 years of age, were paid to participate. All participants resided in their own apartment but received assistance as needed for basic and instrumental activities of daily living. METHODS: Participants completed the MRT once, on each of two testing sessions. Testing sessions were one to two weeks apart. Participants were scored by two raters simultaneously when performing the MRT. Test-retest and inter-rater reliability were quantified for the MRT. ANALYSIS: Pearson correlation coefficients were used to investigate the relationship between each of the subtests of the functional reach tests. Intra-class correlation coefficients (model 2) were used to quantify test-retest and inter-rater reliability. RESULTS: The Pearson correlations between the four MRT directions were as follows: for the forward reach with the backward reach 0.68, for the forward reach with the right reach 0.74, with the left, 0.71; all R values were significant at p<0.05. Test-retest reliability for all four tests was high and ranged from 0.92 to 0.98 for each of the directions Inter-rater reliability for each subtest of the MRT was also high (ICC=0.90 to 0.99). The mean MRT forward was 5.9 inches, backwards 3.2 inches, and right and left were both 4.1 inches. CONCLUSION: Based on this study, each component of the MRT has a strong intra- and inter-rater reliability in individuals residing in a personal care home and there is a strong correlation between the forward functional reach to each of the three other subtests of the MRT. Clinicians should attain similar results from performing the forward subtest rather than all four components. FUNDING SOURCE: Pennsylvania Physical Therapy Association Research Committee.

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