Multi-Directional Reach Test Calculator
Balance

Multi-Directional Reach Test

Limits of stability in four directions — older-adult screen

Stand with feet flat, a comfortable distance apart. For each direction, note your start position, then reach as far as you can with the outstretched arm — forward, leaning straight back, and to each side — without stepping or lifting a foot. Read the same hand landmark both times; the reach is the distance traveled. Use the average of two trials per direction.
The backward and sideways reaches take you toward directions that are harder to catch yourself in. Keep sturdy support within arm’s reach and someone nearby to guard, and stop if you feel unsteady.
Left vs Right (lateral symmetry)
How to Perform It

The Four Reaches

Each direction is scored on its own, so all four are measured the same way: note where your hand starts, reach as far as you can without moving your feet, and note where it ends. The difference is that direction’s reach.

Front to Back

Shown side-on. The measuring stick runs the way you are facing, and your arm stays out in front of you for both reaches — going backward, it is your body that moves, not your arm.

Illustration of the forward reach in the Multi-Directional Reach Test: a woman stands in profile facing left, both feet flat and planted, with a level measuring stick running horizontally at her shoulder height on a tripod behind her. She is at full forward reach, hinged at the hips with her buttocks pushed back behind her heels and her shoulders forward past her toes, knees slightly bent, her near arm held straight out in front at shoulder height with the index finger extended alongside the stick.
Forward

Forward Reach

Arm straight out in front at shoulder height. Hinge forward at the hips, letting your hips travel back as a counterweight. The longest of the four reaches for most people.

Illustration of the backward reach in the Multi-Directional Reach Test: the same woman stands in profile facing left with both feet flat and planted, her arm still held straight out in front of her at shoulder height pointing along the measuring stick. She is at full backward reach, hips pushed forward ahead of her toes and shoulders and head tipped back behind her heels, so her hand has traveled back along the stick and sits well short of where it reached going forward.
Backward

Backward Reach

Keep the arm out in front and lean your whole body back, hips pushing forward. Your hand travels backward along the stick. Normally the shortest reach of the four.

Side to Side

Shown front-on. Reach with the arm on the side you are reaching toward, and lean sideways with your hips pushing out the other way. Keep your shoulders square — this is a sideways lean, not a turn.

Illustration of the right reach in the Multi-Directional Reach Test: the same woman faces the viewer with both feet flat and planted and her shoulders square, not twisted. A level measuring stick runs across the image at her shoulder height on a tripod at the left end. She leans sideways toward her right with her hips pushed out the opposite way as a counterweight, her right arm straight out to the side at shoulder height, index finger extended along the stick.
Right

Right Reach

Right arm straight out to the side at shoulder height, leaning right as your hips travel left. Do not rotate your trunk toward the reach.

Illustration of the left reach in the Multi-Directional Reach Test: the same woman faces the viewer with both feet flat and planted and her shoulders square, not twisted, mirroring the right reach. The measuring stick runs across the image at her shoulder height on a tripod at the right end. She leans sideways toward her left with her hips pushed out the opposite way as a counterweight, her left arm straight out to the side at shoulder height, index finger extended along the stick.
Left

Left Reach

The mirror of the right reach, using your left arm. Test both sides the same way — the calculator compares them, so any difference in technique shows up as a difference in score.

Read the same hand landmark every time. The original study measured total hand excursion without naming a landmark, and clinical descriptions vary — index fingertip, middle fingertip, or a closed fist. The figures here show an extended index finger. Whichever you choose, keep it the same across all four directions and every retest, and note that it differs from the Functional Reach Test, which reads the middle knuckle. The same goes for how far apart you stand: published descriptions range from about 10 cm to shoulder width, so pick one and keep it. The yardstick itself is mounted on a wall in some clinical protocols and on a tripod in others, as shown here — either works, provided it is level, set at shoulder height, and set up the same way each time.

Illustration of how to guard someone during the backward reach of the Multi-Directional Reach Test: the reaching woman is in profile at full backward reach, hips forward and shoulders tipped back, arm still extended in front along the measuring stick. A second woman stands behind her, on the side she is tipping toward, turned to face her back in a braced stance with one foot ahead of the other, both hands raised open at the reaching woman's shoulder-blade and waist height, close enough to catch her but not touching.
Safety

Guard on the Side of the Reach

Each reach walks you toward the edge of your balance in a different direction, so the person guarding you moves too — always to the side you are heading. Clinical protocols note that forward is where most people actually lose it, so that is the position you will use most often. The backward reach is shown here because it is the one that catches people out: you cannot see where you are going, and it is the direction hardest to recover from. Stand close enough to catch, without touching, and stop the trial the moment they feel themselves going.

Based on Newton (2001). Feet stay flat and in the same place for every trial; if a foot moves, steps, or lifts, that trial does not count — reset and take it again. Use the average of two trials in each direction, and keep the stick height, your stance, and your reaching technique the same between tests so your numbers stay comparable.

Watch It Performed

Multi-Directional Reach Test — Demonstration

An external demonstration of the test setup and the reaches being measured.

This video is hosted externally on YouTube and is not produced by Amatal. It’s provided as a visual reference only — setups vary between clinics, and the written protocol and safety notes above take precedence if anything differs.

Related Tests
  • Functional Reach Test — the forward-only test this one extends, scored against full-lifespan age and sex norms.
  • Timed Up and Go — a mobility and fall-risk screen: stand, walk, turn, and sit against the clock.
  • Single-Leg Stance — a static balance test: how long you can hold one-leg balance without a step or touch-down.

All Balance Tests

Disclaimer

This tool scores the Multi-Directional Reach Test — how far you can reach forward, backward, and to each side while standing, without stepping or losing balance — and compares each direction to older-adult reference values. It is a screening and general-information tool, not a medical assessment or a prediction of falls. People tend to pitch toward the direction they reach, so test with sturdy support nearby and someone to guard, and stop if you feel unsteady. If you have balance concerns, dizziness, or a history of falls, consult a healthcare provider.

How the Multi-Directional Reach Test Calculator Works

The Multi-Directional Reach Test (MDRT) measures your limits of stabilityThe furthest you can lean in a direction before you must step or fall to stay upright. Reaching probes how far your center of mass can travel over your feet under control. in four directions — forward, backward, right, and left — by seeing how far you can reach with an outstretched arm while keeping your feet planted. It extends the forward-only Functional Reach Test, and it exists for a simple reason: falls don’t only happen forward. People also fall sideways and backward, so a test that only measures forward reach misses part of the picture.

Roberta Newton developed it in 2001 as a portable, low-cost way to measure stability in both the front-to-back and side-to-sideIn clinical terms, the anterior-posterior (forward/backward) and medio-lateral (left/right) directions — the two planes in which standing balance is usually described. directions. All it needs is a yardstick set level at shoulder height — mounted on a wall or on a tripod — and a clear, safe space.

Step 1: Measure Four Reaches

  • Stand with your feet flat on the floor, a comfortable distance apart, beside a yardstick set level at shoulder height — mounted on a wall or on a tripod.
  • Read the same hand landmark every time. Newton measured total hand excursion without specifying one, and clinical descriptions vary — index fingertip, middle fingertip, or a closed fist. Pick one and keep it identical across all four directions and every retest. (Note it differs from the Functional Reach Test, which reads the middle knuckle.)
  • Use whichever arm you prefer for the forward and backward reaches, and the matching arm for each side — right arm reaching right, left arm reaching left.
  • For each direction in turn — forward, straight backward (leaning back), right, and left — note your start position, reach as far as you can with the outstretched arm, and note where you end up.
  • Keep your feet flat: no stepping, no lifting a heel or toe, no touching anything for support. If your feet move, discard that trial and take it again.
  • The reach is the distance traveled. Use the average of two trials in each direction.
Reach (each direction) = end position − start position

Step 2: Compare Each Direction to the Norms

Each of your four reaches is compared to the average for healthy older adults, allowing for the normal spread around that average (one standard deviationA measure of how much scores vary around the average. Roughly two-thirds of people fall within one standard deviation of the mean.). Each direction is then labeled:

  • Above typical — reaching further than most older adults.
  • Within typical range — around the older-adult average.
  • Below typical — noticeably under the average.
  • Well below typical — far under the average, the clearest flag for reduced stability in that direction.

Left vs. Right: The Symmetry Check

Healthy people reach about equally far to the left and right, so the calculator compares your two lateral reaches and notes which is greater and by how much. A clear or repeatable side-to-side difference — or one side that lands in a worse band than the other — can point to a one-sided limitation. There is no validated asymmetry cut-off for this test, so it’s offered as a prompt to look closer, not a result in itself.

Why There’s No Single Score

You won’t see the four reaches blended into one number. That’s deliberate: in the original research the directions were found to measure related but distinct aspects of balance, and a forward limitation means something different from a backward or sideways one. Averaging them away would hide exactly the information the test was built to reveal. So each direction is reported on its own.

An Older-Adult Reference

The reference values come from community-dwelling older adults, pooled together rather than split by age or sex, because that is the group the validated norms describe. A healthy younger adult will reach well past these averages and land in the “above typical” band in every direction — which is expected, not remarkable. The comparison is most meaningful for older adults and for tracking change over time.

How This Differs from the Functional Reach Test

The forward reach here is not the same number you’d get from our standalone Functional Reach Test page. The two tests come from different studies, with different samples and slightly different setups, so their forward averages differ — Newton’s older-adult forward reach is shorter than the value in the Functional Reach Test’s norms. That’s why this calculator reads all four directions against Newton’s own consistent data, rather than borrowing the forward figure from the other page. Use the standalone test for a quick forward-only check against full-lifespan norms, and this one for a four-direction picture against older-adult norms — but don’t compare the numbers across the two.

Reading the Radar and the Table

  • Reach Profile (radar) — your four reaches plotted on a compass: forward at the top, backward at the bottom, right and left to the sides, with the older-adult average overlaid as a dashed outline. A direction where you fall short shows as a dent in the shape.
  • Direction Breakdown (table) — your reach, the older-adult average, and the status band for each direction.

What Affects Your Reaches

  • Activity level — In the original study, how active a person was helped explain their forward and sideways reaches.
  • Fear of falling — The same study found the backward reach was the one most tied to fear of falling — leaning back feels riskier, so anxiety shortens it independently of true balance.
  • Strength and mobility — Hip and knee muscle strength and trunk mobility set how far you can lean with control.
  • Body proportions — Longer arms add reach, another reason the result is read against norms rather than as an absolute distance.

Data Sources

  • Newton RA (2001). “Validity of the multi-directional reach test: a practical measure for limits of stability in older adults.” Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, 56A(4):M248–M252. Source of the four-direction reference values (254 community-dwelling older adults), with reliability above 0.92.
  • Duncan PW, et al. (1990). The Functional Reach Test, which the MDRT extends from one direction to four.
  • Note: later work has reported MDRT values across a wider age range (roughly 20–79), but this calculator uses Newton’s validated older-adult reference, which remains the standard citation.

Limitations and Important Caveats

  • It is a screen, not a prediction. Reaching within the typical range does not guarantee you won’t fall, and a short reach does not confirm you will. It is one piece of a balance picture, usually combined with other tests.
  • The norms are older adults only. There are no age- or sex-specific bands in the reference used here, so it isn’t designed to rate children, adolescents, or to finely distinguish younger adults.
  • Setup and technique matter. A different start position, a lifted heel, or a sit-down version all change the numbers; consistency is what makes repeat tests comparable.
  • One moment in time. A single test is a snapshot; a trend across sessions is more informative, especially through training or rehabilitation.

Disclaimer:
This calculator scores the Multi-Directional Reach Test against published older-adult reference values. It is for general informational and screening purposes only and is not a medical assessment, a diagnosis, or a prediction of falls. Always test in a safe space with sturdy support within reach and someone nearby to guard, and stop if you feel unsteady. The reference values describe community-dwelling older adults and may not apply to you; a result on this test should not, on its own, drive conclusions about your balance or decisions about activity. If you have balance concerns, dizziness, frailty, or a history of falls, consult a qualified healthcare provider. This tool does not replace professional assessment.