OCR Text |
Show COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABS RACTS Jacob Hopkins Andrew Merryweather 20 STANDING BALANCE PERFORMANCE AND ASSOCIATED MORSE FALL RISK SCORE Jacob Hopkins (Andrew Merryweather) Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Utah Currently, patient falls are a major source of costs associated with healthcare. The Morse Fall Risk score was established to evaluate the fall risk of patients and help healthcare providers provide extra care to individuals with a high risk of falling. This study evaluates the correlation between the Morse Fall Risk (MFS) score and the standing balance performance of elderly adults. T w o groups were selected: a high risk group with an impaired gait and M F S > 45, and a low risk control group with a normal gait and MFS < 45. This study, part of a larger study to assess bedside falls and bed entry/exit, was conducted using retro-reflective markers to capture movement and biomechanics. The data was processed using biomechanics software including A M A S S (C-Motion Inc. Germantown, M D ) , Nexus (Vicon Oxford, UK), and Visual 3D (C-Motion Inc. Germantown, M D ) . These programs are used to capture data, fill missing marker trajectories, and analyze results (in that order). Analysis of the data will focus on identifying critical balance metrics. These metrics will be compared between groups to see if a meaningful relationship exists between quantitative measurements for standing balance and MFS value. So far, preliminary results do support this claim. Future studies will be required to evaluate h o w this relationship leads to injuries and to determine h o w these injuries can be more effectively prevented. This study should lead to acceptance of improved clinical fall metrics that can help with identifying managing patients with a high fall risk, thereby preventing the problem of patient falls. Furthermore, it should start to close the gap that exists between research and clinical practice. |