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Longstanding

Single-leg stand, eyes closed

Standing balance with no help from the eyes. It is the test behind putting on trousers or socks standing up.

Method
Timer · best of 3
Equipment
A wall within reach
Attempts
3, best counts
Reference
Clinical norm

Protocol

  1. Stand barefoot next to a wall, arms crossed over your chest.

  2. Lift one foot so it does not touch the standing leg. Close your eyes, then start the timer.

  3. Stop when the lifted foot touches down, the standing foot moves, your arms uncross or you open your eyes. Cap at 45 s.

Safety. Keep a wall or counter within reach. Stop if you feel dizzy. Rest 30 s between attempts.

How it is scored

Scored against Springer 2007 (549 adults aged 18 to 99, best of three trials, eyes closed). Balance norms do not differ by sex.

Clinical norm

Scored against a published reference table for your age and sex.

Reference table

Normative values for the unipedal stance test with eyes open and closed (Springer et al., J Geriatr Phys Ther 2007)

549 screened volunteers aged 18–99

Means by age group, eyes closed, best of three; the spread around them is estimated. The sample was screened volunteers, so the norms may flatter a typical adult.

Known gaps

Where the app’s table or protocol differs from its best source, from our own check of the research.

  • The spread around each age mean is our estimate; the source gives means only.
  • The 18–39 band uses the women’s mean (13.1 s) rather than the total (15.2 s), so it is slightly easy.
  • The reference sample was screened volunteers. In a representative British cohort at 53, median eyes-closed stance was 5 s (men) and 4 s (women), below the 50–59 median here, so a typical 53-year-old may score around the 30th–40th percentile.
  • The well-known 10-second one-leg finding is an eyes-open test. It does not apply to this eyes-closed result.