People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have balance impairments and an increased risk of falls. The psychometric properties of short balance tests to inform fall risk assessment in COPD are unknown. Our objective was to determine the validity (concurrent, convergent, and known-groups) of short balance and mobility tests for fall risk screening. Participants with COPD aged ≥ 60 years attended a single assessment. Correlation coefficients described the relationships between the Brief Balance Evaluation Systems Test (Brief BESTest), Single-Leg Stance (SLS), Timed Up and Go (TUG), and Timed Up and Go Dual-Task (TUG-DT) tests, with the comprehensive Berg Balance Scale (BBS), chair-stand test, and measures of exercise tolerance, functional limitation, disability, and prognosis. Independent t-tests or Mann–Whitney U tests were used to examine differences between groups with respect to fall risk. Receiver operating characteristic curves examined the ability of the screening tests to identify individuals with previous falls. A total of 86 patients with COPD completed the study (72.9 ± 6.8 years; forced expiratory volume in 1 second: 47.3 ± 20.3% predicted). The Brief BESTest identified individuals who reported a previous fall (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.715, p = 0.001), and the SLS showed borderline acceptable accuracy in identifying individuals with a fall history (AUC = 0.684, p = 0.004). The strongest correlations were found for the Brief BESTest and SLS with the BBS (r = 0.80 and r = 0.72, respectively) and between the TUG and TUG-DT with the chair-stands test (r = 0.73 and r = 0.70, respectively). The Brief BESTest and SLS show the most promise as balance screening tools for fall risk assessment in older adults with COPD. These tests should be further evaluated prospectively.

患有慢性阻塞性肺病 (COPD) 的人存在平衡障碍，并且跌倒的风险增加。用于评估慢性阻塞性肺病跌倒风险的短期平衡测试的心理测量特性尚不清楚。我们的目标是确定用于跌倒风险筛查的短期平衡和活动测试的有效性（并发、收敛和已知组）。年龄 ≥ 60 岁的慢性阻塞性肺病参与者参加了一次评估。相关系数描述了简单平衡评估系统测试 (Brief BESTest)、单腿站立 (SLS)、计时起立行走 (TUG) 和计时起立行走双任务 (TUG-DT) 测试之间的关系，其中综合伯格平衡量表 (BBS)、椅立测试以及运动耐量、功能限制、残疾和预后的测量。独立t检验或曼-惠特尼U检验用于检查各组之间跌倒风险的差异。接受者操作特征曲线检查了筛选测试识别以前跌倒过的个体的能力。共有 86 名 COPD 患者完成了这项研究（72.9 ± 6.8 岁；1 秒用力呼气量：预测值的 47.3 ± 20.3%）。Brief BESTest 识别出曾报告过跌倒史的个体（曲线下面积 (AUC) = 0.715，p = 0.001），而 SLS 在识别有跌倒史的个体方面显示出可接受的准确度（AUC = 0.684，p = 0.004）。发现Brief BESTest 和SLS 与BBS 之间的相关性最强（分别为r = 0.80 和r = 0.72），以及TUG 和TUG-DT 与椅立测试之间的相关性最强（分别为r = 0.73 和r = 0.70） 。Brief BESTest 和 SLS 显示出最有希望作为平衡筛查工具，用于评估患有慢性阻塞性肺病的老年人的跌倒风险。这些测试应进一步进行前瞻性评估。