Abstract
Physical therapists play a vital role in preventing and managing falls in older adults. With advancements in digital health and technology, community fall prevention programs need to adopt valid and reliable telehealth-based assessments. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the telehealth-based timed up and go (TUG) test, 30-second chair stand test (30s-CST), and four-stage (4-stage) balance test as functional components of the Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, and Injuries (STEADI) fall risk assessment.
This cross-sectional study was conducted using a convenience sample of community-dwelling older adults. The TUG, 30s-CST, and 4-stage balance test were administered in random order in 1 session in the participant's own environment. Performance was scored concurrently by an in-person and synchronous telehealth rater. The video recordings of the performances were scored by an asynchronous telehealth rater on days 1 and 30 for inter- and intra-rater reliability. Additionally, participants performed the TUG test twice, using the distance measured by the participant and the distance measured by the in-person rater. To establish the validity of telehealth-based STEADI fall risk assessments, the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), Pearson correlation coefficient, and 95% limits of agreement were derived. Inter- and intra-rater reliability were established by calculating ICC using a 2-way mixed model. Bland-Altman plots were created for nonsignificant proportional bias tests.
Thirty community-dwelling older adults participated. Based on the STEADI algorithm, 13 participants were classified as having a moderate fall risk. A comparison of in-person and synchronous telehealth ratings showed excellent ICCs (0.97-0.99) and relationships (r = 0.94-0.98). Bland-Altman plots were created for all tests except for the 30s-CST (t = -2.168, P = .04). All tests had good to excellent inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.84-1.00) and intra-rater reliability (0.77-1.00). No adverse events were reported.
This study suggests that telehealth-administered functional tests in the STEADI fall risk assessment are valid and reliable when technology, environment, camera view, and angle are optimally managed.