Normative scores on the Berg Balance Scale decline after age 70 years in healthy community-dwelling people: a systematic review

Questions: What is the mean Berg Balance Scale score of healthy elderly people living in the community and how does it vary with age? How much variability in Berg Balance Scale scores is present in groups of healthy elderly people and how does this vary with age?

Design: Systematic review with meta-analysis.

Participants: Any group of healthy community-dwelling people with a mean age of 70 years or greater that has undergone assessment using the Berg Balance Scale.

Outcome measurement: Mean and standard deviations of Berg Balance Scale scores within cohorts of elderly people of known mean age.

Results: The search yielded 17 relevant studies contributing data from a total of 1363 participants. The mean Berg Balance Scale scores ranged from 37 to 55 out of a possible maximum score of 56. The standard deviation of Berg Balance Scale scores varied from 1.0 to 9.2. Although participants aged around 70 years had very close to normal Berg Balance Scale scores, there was a significant decline in balance with age at a rate of 0.7 points on the 56-point Berg Balance Scale per year. There was also a strong association between increasing age and increasing variability in balance (R(2) = 0.56, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Healthy community-dwelling elderly people have modest balance deficits, as measured by the Berg Balance Scale, although balance scores deteriorate and become more variable with age.