Developing a short form of the Berg Balance Scale for people with stroke.
OBJECTIVE
To improve the utility of the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), the aim of this study was to develop a short form of the BBS (SFBBS) that was psychometrically similar (including test reliability, validity, and responsiveness) to the original BBS for people with stroke.


METHODS
A total of 226 subjects with stroke participated in this prospective study at 14 days after their stroke; 167 of these subjects also were examined at 90 days after their stroke. The BBS, Barthel Index, and Fugl-Meyer Motor Test were administered at these 2 time points. By reducing the number of tested items by more than half the number of items in the original BBS (ie, making 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-item tests) and simplifying the scoring system of the original BBS (ie, collapsing the 5-level scale into a 3-level scale [BBS-3P]), we generated a total of 8 SFBBSs.


RESULTS
The distributions of scores for all 8 SFBBSs were acceptable but featured notable floor effects. The 4-item BBS, 5-item BBS, 5-item BBS-3P, and 7-item BBS-3P demonstrated good reliability. The subjects' scores on the 6-item BBS, 6-item BBS-3P, 7-item BBS, and 7-item BBS-3P showed excellent agreement with those on the original BBS. The 6-item BBS-3P and 7-item BBS-3P exhibited great responsiveness. Only the 7-item BBS-3P demonstrated both satisfactory and psychometric properties similar to those of the original BBS.


CONCLUSIONS
The 7-item BBS-3P was found to be psychometrically similar to the original BBS. The 7-item BBS-3P, compared with the original BBS, is simpler and faster to complete in either a clinical or a research setting and is recommended.
Chou
Chia-Yeh
CY
Department of Rehabilitation, Jen-Teh Junior College of Medicine, Nursing and Management, Miaoli, Taiwan.
Chien
Chi-Wen
CW
Hsueh
I-Ping
IP
Sheu
Ching-Fan
CF
Wang
Chun-Hou
CH
Hsieh
Ching-Lin
CL
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002138:Calibration; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D015588:Observer Variation; D004856:Postural Balance; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011594:Psychometrics; D012678:Sensation Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications*; D013624:Taiwan; D013997:Time Factors