pull test

Indications

• best means of predicting future falls in a patient with a history of backward falls
  • 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

More general terms

• physical examination technique