Test-retest reliability of two tiltboard tests in children.
OBJECTIVE
Most clinical evaluations of postural control in children are relatively subjective and have not been tested for reliability of scoring. The purpose of this study was to investigate the test-retest reliability of measurements obtained with two tiltboard tests.


METHODS
Subjects were 18 children, aged 53 to 81 months (mean = 64.4, SD = 8.3), who were typically developing (TD group) and 18 children, aged 50 to 79 months (mean = 63.3, SD = 8.4), with developmental delays (DD group).


METHODS
Each child was tested using the two tilt-board tests and was then retested using the same tests approximately 1 week later. The maximum angle of tiltboard tilt prior to any postural adjustment by the child was recorded.


RESULTS
Intraclass correlation coefficients for test-retest reliability (two-way, random-effects, repeated-measures model) ranged from .49 to .54 for the TD group and from .52 to .82 for the DD group. Angles were higher for both groups for the second test.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that these tiltboard tests do not give stable and reliable measurements across test sessions. Before these tests can be used to document change in postural control abilities across time, further research is warranted.
Broadstone
B J
BJ
Shoreline School District, Seattle, WA 98133.
Westcott
S L
SL
Deitz
J C
JC
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000295:instrumentation; D004856:Postural Balance; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results