Can you have a patient use an assitive device when using the Berg to predict fall risk?
Answer
On the Berg if you are doing it in a reliable way and the way it was intended, you cannot have the patient use an assistive device. If you have the patient use an assistive device on the Berg you cannot use those predictive fall values to compare yours patients results because you are preforming the test in a way that it was not being done when those values were calculated. If a patient really needs to use an assistive device, you should use another outcome measure too.
Sharon L. Gorman, PT, DPTSc, GCS
Sharon Gorman, PT, DPTSc, is Professor of Physical Therapy at Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, CA. She teaches Doctor of Physical Therapy students in the areas of acute care and management of medically complex patients. Dr. Gorman received her Doctor of Science degree in Physical Therapy at the University of California/San Francisco State University, a Master of Science in Health Science at San Francisco State University, and a Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy from Mt. St. Mary’s University, Los Angeles. Dr. Gorman is board certified by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties as a Geriatric Clinical Specialist and is a Distinguished Practitioner and Fellow of the National Academies of Practice. Dr. Gorman is Chief Financial Officer and founding Board member of Hands for Global Health, a non-governmental charitable organization committed to empowering health professions students to take leadership roles in global health. Dr. Gorman’s professional service spans local district, state, and national American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) elected positions, committees, and volunteer activities. She currently serves as Secretary of the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy’s Simulation in PT Education Consortium. She has been actively incorporating simulation-based education into her courses since 2008 and works interprofessionally with the accredited Health Sciences Simulation Center at Samuel Merritt. Dr. Gorman is the creator of the Function In Sitting Test and is actively engaged in research investigating the psychometric and predictive qualities of this standardized outcome measure.
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