Reliability of the pediatric balance scale in the assessment of the children with cerebral palsy

Abstract

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to determine the absolute reliability and relative reliability of the Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS) for children with Cerebral Palsy (CP). [Subjects] For the inter- and intra-rater reliability, 36 children with CP (20 boys, 16 girls) were recruited. For the test-retest reliability, 27 children with CP (16 boys, 11 girls) were recruited. [Methods] Seven pediatric physical therapists rated 36 video recordings of children with CP to test inter-rater reliability. Two therapists rescored each video recording to test intra-rater reliability after an interval of two weeks. To evaluate the test-retest reliability, one rater scored each of the 27 video clips on two occasions, two-weeks apart. Relative reliability was calculated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Absolute reliability was assessed using the standard error of measurement (SEM) and the smallest real difference (SRD). [Results] The PBS showed high to very high relative reliability, and the absolute reliability was satisfactory for the inter- and intra-rater and test-retest reliability. [Conclusion] Excellent absolute reliability as well as relative reliability of the PBS was obtained, so the PBS is reliable for examining the functional balance of children with cerebral palsy.