Functional balance and mobility tests in
healthy participants: reliability, error and
infl uencing factors

Busse, ME; Tyson, S

Abstract

Background and Purpose. Knowledge of the measurement error and reliability
of measurement tools is required to judge whether true changes in performance
have occurred. How a patient’s performance relates to that of a healthy individual, and
which factors would infl uence performance, also need to be considered to assess whether
a patient’s performance is ‘normal’. The aim of the present study was to assess withinsession
and test–retest reliability, and measurement error, of a hierarchical series of functional
tests of balance and walking in healthy participants. Obtaining indicative data in a
group of healthy participants was an additional aim. Method. Forty healthy participants
aged 20–60 years were recruited from staff and students of Cardiff University. The participants
completed eight functional balance and mobility tests on two occasions on the
same day. Intra-class correlation co-effi cients (ICCs), assessed within-session, and test–
retest reliability and measurement error were calculated from the mean squares error
term of a repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). The relationship to the overall
mean score was calculated and linear regression investigated the factors infl uencing
performance. Results. Within-session and test–retest reliability for each of the tests was
moderate to high (ICCs = 0.88–0.98 and 0.77–0.94, respectively). The overall measurement
error was 3% to 11% of the mean scores. Age was the most frequent factor infl uencing
performance; level of activity and body mass index (BMI) did not infl uence performance
on any of the tests. Conclusions. Functional balance and mobility tests are reliable but
are subject to random error up to 11% of the mean. The present study provides initial reference
data for physiotherapists in clinical practice. It is important to begin to develop a
database of a standard range of scores to give a context with which to judge more accurately
the importance and relevance of clinical measurements from patients.

Citation

infl uencing factors. Physiotherapy Research International, 12(4), 242-250. https://doi.org/10.1002/pri.383

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2007
• Deposit Date: Mar 23, 2010
• Journal: Physiotherapy Research International
• Print ISSN: 1358-2267
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 242-250
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pri.383
• Keywords: functional balance • healthy people • mobility tests • measurement error • mobility tests • reliability
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1002/pri.383