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pull test
Indications:
- best means of predicting future falls in a patient with a history of backward falls [1,2]
- Parkinson's disease
- parkinsonism
Procedure:
- the patient stands in front of the examiner with his/her back to the examiner
- he/she is told to prepare for a quick tug backward, enough to upset their balance
- the correct response to the tug is a quick compensatory backward step
- a patient with Parkinson's disease or parkinsonism at risk for backward falls will fail to take an adequate backward step & will fall into the hands of the examiner
General
physical examination technique
References
- Medical Knowledge Self Assessment Program (MKSAP) 16
American College of Physicians, Philadelphia 2012
- Medical Knowledge Self Assessment Program (MKSAP) 20
American College of Physicians, Philadelphia 2025
- Munhoz RP, Li JY, Kurtinecz M
Evaluation of the pull test technique in assessing postural
instability in Parkinson's disease.
Neurology. 2004 Jan 13;62(1):125-7
PMID: 14718714
- Virmani T, Patra M, Glover A, et al.
Objective quantification of responses to the clinical pull-test in
people with Parkinson's disease.
Gait Posture. 2023;103:106-112.
PMID: 37156162