ArticleAging clinical and experimental research2020
Posterior single-stepping thresholds are prospectively related to falls in older women.
Article in Aging clinical and experimental research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Does concern about falling predict future falls in older adults? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Age and ageing · 2025Pooled it
- Feedback-based perturbation balance training during stationary cycling improves reactive and proactive balance among older adults: a single-blinded randomised controlled trial.Age and ageing · 2025Trial
- Postural threat influences reactive stepping characteristics at the single-step threshold, but not when a step is necessary.Experimental brain research · 2026Article
- Fall history moderates the relationship between concern about falling and reactive stepping performance in people with multiple sclerosis.Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Reactive Balance in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: A Prospective Motion Analysis Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a 2-week in-place reactive balance training program in people with multiple sclerosis.Multiple sclerosis and related disorders · 2025Article
- The Stepping Threshold Test for assessing reactive balance discriminates between older adult fallers and non-fallers.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2024Article
- Prognostic accuracy of the one-legged balance test in predicting falls: 15-years of midlife follow-up in a British birth cohort study.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2022Article
- The Stepping Threshold Test for Reactive Balance: Validation of Two Observer-Based Evaluation Strategies to Assess Stepping Behavior in Fall-Prone Older Adults.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFalls are a leading cause of injury in older women. Stepping thresholds quantify balance-reaction capabilities. It is unclear how such evaluations predict falls in comparison to, or as a complement to, other objective measures of gait, standing postural control, strength, and balance confidence.
aimsThe objective of this study was to determine if stepping thresholds are prospectively related to falls in older women.
methodsFor this prospective cohort study, 125 ambulatory, community-dwelling women, age ≥ 65 years were recruited. Using a treadmill to deliver perturbations to standing participants, we determined anteroposterior single- and multiple-stepping thresholds. Here, thresholds represent the minimum perturbation magnitudes that consistently evoke one step or multiple steps. In addition, gait kinematics, obstacle-crossing kinematics, standing sway measures, unipedal stance time, the functional reach, lower extremity isometric strength, grip strength, balance confidence, and fall history were evaluated. Falls were prospectively recorded for one year.
resultsSeventy-four participants (59%) fell at least once. Posterior single-stepping thresholds were the only outcome that predicted future fall status (OR = 1.50, 95% CI 1.01-2.28; AUC = .62). A multivariate approach added postural sway with eyes closed as a second predictive variable, although predictive abilities were not meaningfully improved. DISCUSSION: These results align with the previous evidence that reactive balance is a prospective indicator of fall risk. Unlike previous studies, strength scaled to body size did not contribute to fall prediction.
conclusionPosterior single-stepping thresholds held a significant relationship with future fall status. This relationship was independent of, and superior to that of, other measures of standing balance, gait, strength, and balance confidence.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.