Author links open overlay panelAmin Nakhostin Ansari ^a b, Nima Naghshtabrizi ^b, Soofia Naghdi ^c d e, Mohammad Ghafouri ^a, Maedeh Khalifeloo ^c, Maryam Mohammadzadeh ^b, Payam Vezvaei ^b, Noureddin Nakhostin Ansari ^c d e

Abstract

Background

Balance impairment is a common problem in all age groups. There are several tools to assess balance. Functional reach test (FRT), single-leg stance (SLS) test, timed up and go (TUG) test, and TUG with the cognitive dual-task (TUGcog) are commonly employed balance tests. The current study aimed to determine the normative values of FRT, SLST, TUG, and TUGcog across age groups and genders in healthy Iranian adults.

Methods

We designed a cross-sectional study, and 240 healthy adults (120 males and 120 females) in six age groups (18–29, 30–39, 40–49, 50–59, 60–69, ≥70 years) completed FRT, SLST, TUG, and TUGcog based on the Persian version of BESTest instructions.

Results

There were significant age-specific declines in balance performances. Gender had effects on 18–29 years and older adults (≥60 years), and males performed better than females. Male and females had similar performance on the TUG and TUGcog tests in 60–69 years (p > 0.05).

Conclusions

The normative values of FRT, SLS, TUG, and TUGcog provided for healthy Iranian adults increase the clinical utility of tests, and serve as a reference to estimating the individuals’ balance performance across age and gender groups.

Keywords

Postural balanceIranReference valuesHealthy adults

Received 31 December 2021, Revised 19 June 2022, Accepted 21 June 2022, Available online 26 June 2022, Version of Record 14 July 2022.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amsu.2022.104053