Able Assess As a Falls Risk Assessment Solution

In this article, we explain the value of assessing the Single Maximum Grip Strength Test (SMGT), Timed Up & Go Test (TUG), 30 Second Chair to Stand Test (CTS) and 4 Meter Gait Speed Test using the Able Assess Falls Risk Screening platform.

Falls and fall-related injuries are a common and serious problem for older people. Every year there are 37.3 million falls that are severe enough to require medical attention, according to the World Health Organization.

Further data from the CDC reveals that one in four people aged 65+ fall every year in the US, leading to approximately $50 billion in annual medical costs. The latest Census shows that one in six of the US population are 65+, nearly 56 million people, but only an estimated <10% of seniors are screened for falls annually.

Both the American Geriatrics Society and British Geriatrics Society recommend annual screening for all adults aged 65+ to prevent falls.

In the UK, emergency admissions due to falls in people aged 65 or over are 2,114 per 100,000 of the population. This has an estimated cost to the NHS of £2.3 billion per year, according to the Department of Health & Social Care and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

Let’s explore why measuring grip strength is a reliable data-driven screening method to identify the risk of falls, helping to prevent them.

Evidence from research: Grip strength as a key indicator of falls risk

Grip strength should be taken at every visit. It is a critical indicator of falls risk, providing a quick, non-invasive, and informative indicator of muscle strength, bone density, balance, biological resilience, and functional health status as well as ability.

There are clear links between grip strength and longevity and also clear connections between grip strength and frailty.

Several recent studies have identified grip strength as a key indicator of falls risk.

These include:

Dos Santos et al., 2024 concluded that low hand grip strength is associated with falls in adults aged 50+
Pham et al., 2023: Conclusions included findings that all males and obese females with low grip strength are at the greatest risk of serious falls
Villamizar-Pita et al., 2022 established the importance of assessing hand grip strength among physically active women aged 50+ to identify people at risk of falls
Neri et al., 2021 found that poor hand grip strength is independently associated with higher risk of falls in older women, especially those with impaired postural balance
Lin et al., 2021 concluded that hand grip strength was the most useful proxy for walking speed, in populations where measurement of walking speed can be challenging due to the functional decline or limited environment.

For more details, here is a comprehensive bibliography of studies on grip strength as a biomarker for different clinical areas.

Lower and Upper Limb Measurements as Falls Risk Assessment Tools

Four integral measurements that screen for the risk of falls include:

Grip strength

Indicating full-body strength and physiological reserve, grip strength, measured using a hand dynamometer, is a vital biomarker for senior care.

Measuring full-body strength and physiological reserve, it is a very important assessment in falls risk screening.

It is a core measure of functional health reflecting muscle strength, bone density and balance, but also a key indicator of biological resilience for many chronic conditions.

Assessment: Single maximum grip strength test (SMGT): Measuring grip strength involves administering a SMGT, which assesses peak grip strength by recording the maximum force exerted in a single grip.

Lower limb strength

Lower body strength is critical for mobility, balance, and independence in daily activities.

It is widely used in rehabilitation and preventative care settings to enable early identification of at-risk individuals, promoting interventions that enhance functional independence and reduce falls risk.

Assessment: 30 second chair-to-stand (CTS) test: Counting the number of times a patient can reach a full standing position from a seated chair in half a minute. Below average scores indicate a risk of falls, as per the CDC’s STEADI initiative.

Gait speed

Indicating mobility and walking ability, gait speed is a simple yet powerful predictor of falls risk, functional decline, and early mortality.

A walking speed below 0.6 m/s indicates high falls risk and increased mortality, necessitating targeted interventions.

Assessment: 4 meter gait speed test: Timing how many seconds a patient takes to walk four meters, with below average scores indicating a risk of falls.

Dynamic balance

Measurements of balance and functional mobility are extensively used in falls risk assessments to predict mobility impairments, frailty, and falls risk.

Assessment: Timed Up & Go test (TUG): Assessing mobility as the patient stands up from a chair, walks to a line three meters away, turns, walks back and sits down again. An older adult taking more than 12 seconds to complete the TUG is at risk of falling, as per the CDC’s STEADI initiative.

There is only one solution able to capture all four integral measurements accurately, the Able Assess Falls Risk Screening platform.

Able Assess is the first digital platform to combine the four key indicators of falls risk in one streamlined solution.

Standardized and scalable falls risk screening with Able Assess

Able Care has designed the first falls risk screening tool that empowers every clinical and non-clinical staff member to deliver a standardized, objective, low-cost, data driven assessment in under 5 minutes.

The NICE committee consistently notes the absence of a gold-standard, validated, practical falls risk tool across settings. Most existing tools fail to achieve acceptable thresholds for predictive accuracy or are infeasible in routine care.

The Able Assess Falls Risk Screening platform offers a unique opportunity to bridge this gap:

Integrates multiple objective measures reflecting known falls risk domains.
Practical for use by professionals across settings.
Can support risk stratification, functional baselining, and reablement planning.
Can be paired with education and tailored interventions for enhanced effectiveness.

Able Assess is the only solution that measures the four key falls risk metrics outlined above, accurately, reliably, sensitively and objectively.

It combines the GripAble sensor with a simple protocol that can be used by clinical and non-clinical staff, a user-friendly app providing simple to read visualizations of the sensor readings and a clinician-facing web portal for long-term monitoring of falls risk:

Able Assess makes falls risk screening fast, accurate, standardized and low cost.

It enhances patient safety, data standardization, quality, staff education, and compliance – leading to a reduction in falls.

GripAble sensor:

Clinical-grade precision and high sensitivity
Patient-friendly data capture and operational efficiency
Fast, smart digital insights
Flexible and scalable
Integration-ready
Built for compliance

Easy to use Able Assess app:

4 tests with one sensor
Objective data reporting
Clear uniform instructions across all clinical and non-clinical staff
Lightweight and portable

Web portal:

Improved staff monitoring
Data visualization across population and by individual or specific groups
Easy to integrate into health records

Falls risk assessment solutions: SafelyYou, OneStep, Cera+ and Able Care compared

Benefits: Why care providers choose Able Assess

The recent 2025 NICE Guidelines reflect a global shift toward comprehensive, personalised falls assessment, moving away from one-size-fits-all tools and reinforcing the need for multi-domain, clinically informed screening.

In the US, the bipartisan Stopping Addiction and Falls for the Elderly (SAFE) Act aims to increase access to falls screening and prevention tools, reduce use of pain-relieving opioids and drive healthcare cost savings.

If this is successful, it is estimated that the volume of screenings will grow three-fold during the next couple of years.

Able Assess and the GripAble sensor provide benefits for:

Home health

Objective, insurance-ready falls risk data

Validate therapist coding under Section GG and 1800 with standardized, objective data
Demonstrate need for therapy and show measurable improvement over time
Strengthen insurance reporting and reimbursement claims with defensible documentation
Reduce falls and hospitalizations to keep patients on caseload
Quick, 5-minute assessments with staff of any training level or speciality

Assisted and independent living

Improve retention and stand out from the crowd

Identify at-risk residents early with non-clinical staff
Reduce falls and improve long-term resident retention
Advocate for therapy or fitness programming where needed, backed by data
Offer a unique, proactive health benefit that differentiates your facility
Minimize burden of evaluations on in-house therapy or nursing teams

Home care

Protect clients. Protect your business.

Screen for falls risk without requiring clinical staff
Reduce client hospitalizations and improve retention
Provide families with visible, proactive care
Differentiate your services in a competitive private-pay market
Quick, easy-to-administer assessments built for everyday care routines

Outpatient clinics

Fast, billable and scalable screening

Use in evaluations and re-evaluations to meet billing requirements
Provide objective data to support referrals and therapy extensions
Identify secondary conditions (e.g., balance issues) for additional care episodes
Delegate screenings to non-clinical staff to reduce disruption
Be ready to scale as Medicare demand grows with the SAFE Act

Implementation Example: Falls Risk

The Able Assess Falls Risk Screening platform can be used to stratify patients into low, intermediate and high risk, based on the 2022 World guidelines for falls prevention and management for older adults: a global initiative:

Initial Assessment (e.g.primary care or care home)
- Use Able Assess Plus as part of a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment / falls screening measure.
Multidisciplinary Review
- Use results in MDT meetings for falls/frailty risk stratification.
- Integrate into a virtual ward or community support plan.
Monitoring
- Re-test post-intervention (e.g. reablement, strength classes).
- Use trends to guide discharge planning or social care handoff.

The video below shows sample Able Assess results from a patient at low risk of falling:

This video shows sample results from a patient at risk of falling. In this case, indicated by a below average score in the chair stand test:

The Able Assess Falls Risk Screening platform enables long-term monitoring and informed intervention planning:

Summary: Able Assess as a Falls Risk Assessment Solution

A better approach to falls risk screening is needed. No one metric is enough on its own. The NICE guidelines recommend multifactorial assessment and intervention for patients at risk of falling in hospitals.

Read our key takeaways for clinical practice in the NICE guidelines: falls prevention 2025 updates.

However, the combination of measuring grip strength, lower limb strength, gait speed, and balance provides a comprehensive approach to falls risk assessment.

The Able Assess Falls Risk Screening platform is a quick, easy, digital solution and the only one available that captures all four integral measurements accurately and objectively.

Grip strength is a valuable falls risk assessment tool for older adults. Research consistently links low grip strength with increased falls risk.

Measured with a hand dynamometer, other important falls risk assessments include lower limb strength, gait speed and balance tests like TUG.

GripAble with Able Assess, provided by Able Care, is the first sensor in the world to capture all four integral measurements accurately.

For further reading, explore our extensive collection of studies on using a hand dynamometer, grip strength and more, including:

Our market-leading technology and data platforms drive early detection of functional health issues such as falls risks, track outcomes and support true value-based healthcare.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us at hello@able-care.co or contact us for more information.