Comparação entre instrumentos de avaliação do equilíbrio em mulheres adultas e idosas da comunidade

Objective: To compare two balance assessment instruments, BESTest and Baropodometry, in community women and to verify the influence of age, comorbidities and vision on balance. Method: Cross-sectional, analytical study conducted with adult women (50 to 64 years old) and elderly women (65 years old and older). Balance was assessed by a baropodometric platform and the Balance Evaluation Systems Test (BESTest). T test, Anova, Bonferroni and Linear Regression were applied using the SPSS 23.0 software, adopting p <0.05. Results: 156 women participated in the study, 54 adults (59 years ± 3.93) and 102 elderly women (71 years ± 4.8). BESTest found that adult women performed better (p <0.01) than older women in the categories biomechanical restrictions, transitions and anticipations, sensory orientation, gait stability and total score. There was a relationship between BESTest and disease self-report in the elderly group in the biomechanical restrictions, transitions / anticipations and total score categories (p <0.01). Baropodometry identified altered lateral-lateral displacement with eyes closed between the groups (p = 0.01), and the elderly presented worse performance. However, the aforementioned tools had little relation to each other, and their association ranged from 5 to 11%. Conclusion: BESTest and baropometry were effective in detecting differences between the balance of adult and elderly women but had a low association with each other. It is suggested that they be adopted as complementary and not substitutable evaluations in the physiotherapist's clinical practice.