Huntington's Disease: Characteristics of Fallers

This study aimed to identify the characteristics of individuals with early to mid‐stage Huntington's disease who had a history of falls, compared with a cohort with no history of falls. MethodsTwenty‐four participants (10 non‐fallers and 14 recurrent fallers) with a diagnosis of early to mid‐stage Huntington's disease were included in this study. Falls data were collected using retrospective survey analysis. Participants were assessed using measures of balance (Berg Balance Scale), mobility (Rivermead mobility index [RMI]), fear of falling (Activity‐specific Balance Confidence Scale) and gait (6‐min walk test; 10‐m walk test self‐paced and dual tasking). ResultsThere was no difference in severity of disease state between fallers (Unified Huntington Disease Rating Scale [UHDRS] motor 25.33) and non‐fallers (UHDRS motor 25.13) (p = 0.97). The prevalence of falls was high with 66.7% of participants reporting at least one fall and 58.3% reporting two or more falls in the past 12 months. There was no difference in age or gender between recurrent fallers and non‐fallers. Recurrent fallers had significantly lower scores on the Activity‐specific Balance Confidence Scale (p < 0.01) and the RMI (p < 0.05). The probability of falling increases rapidly with a RMI score of less than 10. DiscussionRecurrent falls are common in people with Huntington's disease. Individuals with a history of falls were found to have a greater fear of falling and lowe...
Source: Physiotherapy Research International - Category: Physiotherapy Authors: Tags: Research Article Source Type: research