Ceiling and Floor Effect of the Brazilian Version of Geriatric Psychomotor Examination

PURPOSE: to verify if the items of the Brazilian version of EGP (EGP-Br) and the total score exhibit ceiling or floor effect, and if the results differ between according to gender, the occurrence of falls, cognition and physical activity. METHODS: The study included 215 volunteers with a mean age of 70.22 (+ 6.59) years, 84.7% were women, 61.2% were physically active, 8.1% were diagnosed with cognitive impairment, and 22.8 % reported falls during the past12 months. All were assessed using the EGP-Br and the Mini-Mental State Examination. Comparisons between groups used the Student's t-test, as the data presented normal distribution. Ceiling and floor effects occur when, respectively, more than 15% of the sample has the maximum and minimum score in the evaluated item. RESULTS: The ceiling effect occurred in all 17 items, but the floor effect was not observed in any item. The total EGP-Br score had no ceiling or floor effect. The group that reported falling had worse performance in gait assessment and lower limb fine motor coordination in comparison to the group with no falling. Women had better scores in fine motor coordination as opposed to men. In the Cognition subscale, the physically active group showed better results compared to the sedentary group. The EGP-Br was useful in the assessment of cognition and balance. However, due to the observed ceiling effect, the individual results for each item should be used with caution when evaluating performance improvement