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To verify the psychometric properties of the Brazilian-Portuguese version of the Falls Behavioral (FaB-Brazil) Scale in Parkinson's disease (PD). Participants (n = 96) were assessed by disease-specific, self-report and functional mobility measures. Internal consistency of the FaB-Brazil scale was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha and inter-rater and test–retest reliability using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). The standard error of measurement (SEM), minimal detectable change (MDC), ceiling and floor effects, and convergent and discriminative validity were evaluated. Internal consistency was moderate (α = 0.77). Excellent inter-rater (ICC = 0.90; p < 0.001) and test–retest (ICC = 0.91; p < 0.001) reliability were found. The SEM was 0.20 and MDC was 0.38. Ceiling and floor effects were not found. Convergent validity was established by the positive correlations between the FaB-Brazil scale and age, modified Hoehn and Yahr, PD duration, Movement Disorders Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, Motor Aspects of Experiences of Daily Living, Timed Up & Go and 8-item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire, and negative correlations between the FaB-Brazil scale and community mobility, Schwab & England, and Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale. Females showed greater protective behaviors than males; recurrent fallers showed greater protective behaviors than non-recurrent fallers (p < 0.05). The FaB-Brazil scale is reliable and valid for assessing people with PD. Fall-related behaviors should be part of the fall risk assessment of community-dwelling people with Parkinson's disease. The Brazilian-Portuguese version of the Fall Behavioral (FaB-Brazil) Scale is reliable and valid for assessing everyday behaviors and actions related to falling in community-dwelling people with Parkinson's disease. The FaB-Brazil scale may be used to tailor individualized fall prevention programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To develop and cross-culturally adapt a Brazilian-Portuguese version of the Falls Behavioral Scale (FaB-Brazil) and to verify its psychometric properties. The translation and cross-cultural adaptation process of the scale followed standard guidelines. The FaB-Brazil scale was applied to 93 community-dwelling older people. Cronbach's alpha was calculated to evaluate internal consistency and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to evaluate interrater and test–retest reliability. The standard error of measurement (SEM), minimal detectable change (MDC), ceiling and floor effects, convergent and discriminative validity were evaluated. A significance level of.05 was set for statistical analyses. Internal consistency was moderate (α = 0.73). An excellent inter-rater (ICC = 0.93; p < 0.001) and a good test–retest (ICC = 0.79; p < 0.001) reliability were found. The SEM was 0.27 and MDC was 0.53. Neither ceiling nor floor effects were found. Convergent validity was established by the positive correlations between the FaB-Brazil scale, age, and functional mobility, and by the negative correlations between the FaB-Brazil scale and balance confidence, community mobility and EuroQol-5D (p < 0.05). No significant differences were found between males and females and between non-fallers and fallers. Our results offer evidence for the reliability and validity of the FaB-Brazil scale for community-dwelling older people. Fall-related behaviors should be part of the fall risk assessment of community-dwelling older people. The Brazilian-Portuguese version of the Falls Behavioral Scale (FaB-Brazil) is reliable and valid for assessing fall-related behaviors in community-dwelling older people. The FaB-Brazil scale may be used to raise awareness about potential fall hazards and to guide fall prevention programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous investigations of falls predictors in people with Parkinson's disease (PD) have used various statistical methods and categorization of falls outcomes. The impact of methodological differences on falls predictors has not been investigated. Objectives: To describe similarities and differences in predictors modelled for fall rates [negative binomial (NB), Poisson Inverse Gaussian (PIG) and quantile regression] and previously-reported predictors of time to second fall (Cox regression), i.e. past falls, motor fluctuations, disability, levodopa dose and balance impairment. To investigate whether predictors from quantile regression vary across subsets of fallers based on fall frequency. Methods: Participants with PD (n = 229) were followed-up for 12 months. NB and PIG regression were used to determine predictors of fall rates, with the best fitting model reported. Quantile regression was used to determine predictors at higher (62nd, 70th, 80th) percentiles of the falls distribution. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. Results: Predictors of fall rates were the same in NB and PIG multivariate models, with the PIG model fitting our data better. Past falls, disability and levodopa dose were associated with fall rates from PIG and quantile regression. Freezing of gait was associated with fall rates from PIG regression. Disease severity predicted less (70th percentile, approximately 2–4) and more (80th percentile, approximately ≥ 5) frequent falls, and anteroposterior stability also predicted less frequent falls (p < 0.05), from quantile regression. Conclusions: Not all predictors of time to second fall were predictors of fall rates. Quantile regression revealed some divergent predictors depending on the percentile of fall frequency examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Falls are a debilitating problem for people with Parkinson's disease (PD). Objectives: To compare clinical and functional characteristics of non-fallers, single and recurrent fallers (=2 falls); to determine predictors of time to second fall; and to develop a predictive tool for identifying people with PD at different categories of falls risk. Methods: Participants (n = 229) were assessed by disease-specific, self-report and balance measures and followed up for 12 months. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC), Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank test were performed. Selected predictors with p < 0.10 in univariate analysis were chosen to be entered into the Cox regression model. Results: Eighty-four (37%) participants had=2 falls during the follow-up. Recurrent fallers significantly differed from single fallers. The final Cox model included history of =2 falls in the past year (Hazard Ratio [HR] = 3.94; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.26-6.86), motor fluctuations (HR = 1.91; 95% CI 1.12-3.26), UPDRS activities of daily living (ADL) (HR = 1.10 per 1 point increase; 95% CI 1.06-1.14) and levodopa equivalent dose (LED) (HR = 1.09 per 100 mg increase; 95% CI 1.02-1.16). A 3-predictor tool included history of =2 falls in the past year, motor fluctuations and UPDRS ADL >12 points (AUC= 0.84; 95% CI 0.78-0.90). By adding LED >700 mg/day and Berg balance scale =49 points, a 5-predictor tool was developed (AUC= 0.86; 95% CI 0.81-0.92). Conclusions: Two predictive tools with moderate-to-high accuracy may identify people with PD at low, medium and high risk of falling recurrently within the next year. However, future studies to address external validation are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Recently, we have shown that the Parkinson’s disease (PD) susceptibility locus MAPT (microtubule associated protein tau) is associated with parkinsonism in older adults without a clinical diagnosis of PD. In this study, we investigated the relationship between parkinsonian signs and MAPT transcripts by assessing the effect of MAPT haplotypes on alternative splicing and expression levels of the most common isoforms in two prospective clinicopathologic studies of aging. Materials and Methods: using regression analysis, controlling for age, sex, study and neuropathology, we evaluated 976 subjects with clinical, genotyping and brain pathology data for haplotype analysis. For transcript analysis, we obtained MAPT gene and isoform-level expression from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for 505 of these subjects. Results: The MAPT H2 haplotype was associated with lower total MAPT expression (p = 1.2x10-14) and global parkinsonism at both study entry (p = 0.001) and proximate to death (p = 0.050). Specifically, haplotype H2 was primarily associated with bradykinesia in both assessments (p<0.001 and p = 0.008). MAPT total expression was associated with age and decreases linearly with advancing age (p<0.001). Analysing MAPT alternative splicing, the expression of 1N/4R isoform was inversely associated with global parkinsonism (p = 0.008) and bradykinesia (p = 0.008). Diminished 1N/4R isoform expression was also associated with H2 (p = 0.001). Conclusions: Overall, our results suggest that age and H2 are associated with higher parkinsonism score and decreased total MAPT RNA expression. Additionally, we found that H2 and parkinsonism are associated with altered expression levels of specific isoforms. These findings may contribute to the understanding of the association between MAPT locus and parkinsonism in elderly subjects and in some extent to age-related neurodegenerative diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Balance confidence and fear of falling are factors associated with recurrent falls in people with Parkinson disease (PD). However, the accuracy for predicting falls on the basis of self-report measures has not been widely investigated. Objective. The study objectives were: (1) to compare the accuracy of the Activities- specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC) and the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) with that of the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Dynamic Gait Index (DGI), Functional Reach Test (FRT), and Timed "Up & Go" Test (TUG) for predicting recurrent falls in people with PD and (2) to explore the ability of combinations of up to 3 tests to predict recurrent falls. Design. This was a prospective cohort study involving 225 people with PD. Methods. Participants were assessed with the ABC, FES-I, BBS, FRT, TUG, and DGI. Participants who reported 2 or more falls in the 12-month follow-up period were classified as recurrent fallers. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves were determined, and the Akaike information criterion was used to select the best predictive model. Results. Eighty-four participants (37.3%) were classified as recurrent fallers. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for the ABC, FES-I, TUG, FRT, DGI, and BBS were 0.73, 0.74, 0.72, 0.74, 0.76, and 0.79, respectively. Two-test models provided additional discriminating ability compared with individual measures and had Akaike information criterion values similar to those of 3-test models, particularly the combination of the BBS with the FES-I. Limitations. The lack of an external validation sample was a limitation of this study. Conclusions. The ABC and FES-I demonstrated moderate accuracy in predicting recurrent falls and a predictive ability similar to that of performance-based balance measures, especially the FRT and the TUG. Two-test models showed performance similar to that of 3-test models, suggesting that a combination of 2 measures may improve the ability to predict recurrent falls in people with PD. Specifically, the combination of the BBS with the FES-I may be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Predictors of falls in people with Parkinson's disease (PD) who have not previously fallen are yet to be identified. Objectives: We aimed to identify predictors of all falls and recurrent falls in people with PD who had not fallen in the previous year and to explore the timing of falls in a 12-month follow-up period. Methods: Participants withPD(n = 130) were assessed by disease-specific, self-report and balance measures. Falls were recorded prospectively for 12 months. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to investigate time to falling. Results: Forty participants (31%) had≥1 fall during follow-up and 21 (16%) had≥2 falls. Disability, reduced balance confidence and greater concern about falling were associated with ≥1 fall in univariate analyses. Additionally, PD duration and severity, freezing of gait and impaired balance were associated with ≥2 falls (p < 0.05). Disability (Schwab and England scale, Odds Ratio [OR] = 0.56 per 10 points increase; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.39–0.80; p = 0.002) was associated with ≥1 fall in the final multivariate model (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC] = 0.65; 95% CI 0.55–0.76; p = 0.005). Disability (Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale activities of daily living, OR= 1.20; 95% CI 1.07–1.34; p = 0.001) and levodopa equivalent dose (OR = 1.11 per 100 mg increase; 95% CI 0.95–1.30; p = 0.19) were associated with ≥2 falls in the final multivariate model (AUC= 0.72; 95% CI 0.60–0.84; p = 0.001). Recurrent fallers experienced their first fall earlier than single fallers (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Self-reported disability was the strongest single predictor of all falls and recurrent falls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]