Reliability and validity of measures obtained from stroke patients using the Balance Master

Objective: To determine the test-retest reliability and validity of data obtained using the Balance Master (BM), a computerized balance assessment and training tool. Design: Data were collected on three occasions, 1 week apart. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated if significant (p <.05) between-subject variance was found using a univariate analysis of variance for repeated measures. Concurrent validity of the BM data was determined using the Berg Balance Scale and gait velocity as criterion standards. Participants: Twenty ambulatory hemiparetic subjects who had no history of lower extremity orthopedic problems, no neurological deficits apart from stroke, and had not trained using the BM. Main Outcome Measures: BM data relating to static and dynamic balance performance, gait velocity, and the total score from the Berg Balance Scale. Results: ICCs indicated that only the BM test requiring subjects to shift their center of gravity to randomly highlighted targets (positioned in a circle representing 75% of the individual's Limits of stability) was reliable, both in terms of movement path (ICC =.84) and movement time (ICC =.88). Concurrent validity of the BM data was established for the dynamic measures of balance only, which correlated with both the Berg Balance Scale and gait velocity outcomes (r greater than or equal to.48, p <.05). Conclusions: These findings suggest that in stroke patients the test-retest reliability of data obtained using the BM is greatest for complex tests of balance and that dynamic rather than static balance measures are valid indicators of functional balance performance. (C) 1996 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation