THE MODIFIED GAIT ABNORMALITY RATING-SCALE FOR RECOGNIZING THE RISK OF RECURRENT FALLS IN COMMUNITY-DWELLING ELDERLY ADULTS

Background and Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability and validity of measurements obtained with a seven-item m odified version of the Gait Abnormality Rating Scale (GARS-M), an asse ssment of gait designed to predict risk of falling among community-dwe lling, frail older persons. Subjects. Fifty-two community-dwelling, fr ail older persons, with a mean age of 74.8 years (SD = 6.75), particip ated. Methods. A history of falls was determined from self-report or b y proxy report. The GARS-M was scored from videotapes of subjects walk ing at self-selected paces. Gait characteristics were recorded during a timed walk on a 6-m brown-paper walkway. Results. Scores obtained by three raters for 23 subjects demonstrated moderate to substantial int rarater and interrater reliability. Concurrent validity, as assessed b y Spearman rank-order correlation coefficients, was-demonstrated for t he relationship between GARS-M scores and stride length (r = .754) and for the relationship between GARS-M scores and walking speed (r = -.6 79). Mean GARS-M scores distinguished between frail older persons with and without a history of recurrent falls (mean GARS-M scores of 9.0 a nd 3.8, respectively). Conclusion and Discussion. The GARS-M is a reli able and valid measure for documenting gait features associated with a n increased risk of falling among community dwelling, frail older pers ons and may provide a clinically useful alternative to established qua ntitative gait-assessment methods.