Objective: The goal of this study was to verify by a Brief Battery Functional Assessment (BBFA) the correlation between upper limb function skills with falls and balance

Background: A current clinical bradykinesia assessment tools do not aim to help clinicians identify the underlying movement control systems responsible for poor functional of upper limbs activity in people with Parkinson’s disease (pwp). The ability to modulate posture is poor when the patients performing complex multi tasks and these individuals adopt an even more rigid posture when performing a precision manual task. Although gait and balance have been researched before, few studies were target to this subject to identify the influence of a lack of upper limbs movement in falls and balance.

Methods: 80 subjects with idiopathic PD H&Y 1 to 4 and 20 normal subjects ranging in age from 55 to 88 years old, were recruited from the Movement Disorders Ambulatory Clinic of the University of São Paulo Faculty of Medicine Clinics Hospital. They were rated concurrently on the BBFA by 04 therapists, 04 students, and Parkinson’s Disease researchers. Balance was assessed by MiniBest and Falls Efficacy Scale-International. The number of falls were registered by a questionarie. Concurrent validity was measured by correlation between the BBFA and balance confidence, as assessed with the ABC scale. Each participant performed 3 trials with each upper limb (right and left) of BBFA.

Results: Consistent with our theoretical framework, pwp scored poorly on different sections of the BBFA. In comparison with normal subjects these results of this subjects were worse and the accuracy was significantly difference between gropus (p=0.020). There were a strong intraclass correlation (p=0,01) and variability (p=0,01). In a Post-hoc comparisons showed that there was a strong correlation with balance and falls with the decrease in range of motion, dexterity and bradykinesia. BBFA allows clinicians to identify the type of motor control problems to direct specific treatments for patients is useful correlate balance and poor upper limb function skills. 

Conclusions: There is a strong correlation between upper limb function skills with falls and balance. The BBFA is easy to learnt and to be managed, with excellent reliability and very good validity. It is a good clinical tool to evaluate motor control of upper limbs in all stages of H&Y

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/is-there-a-correlation-between-functional-capacity-upper-limbs-and-falls-risk-and-postural-instability-in-parkinsons-disease/