Functional balance tests for children with traumatic brain injury: within-session reliability.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the within-session reliability of the Modified Functional Reach Test (MFRT) and the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test in children with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and children with typical development (TD).


METHODS
A convenience sample of 24 children with TBI and 24 children with TD matched for age and sex were tested. Following 1 practice trial, 3 trials of the MFRT and TUG were completed and recorded for each child.


RESULTS
Within-session reliability for the MFRT was excellent [children with TBI (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC (1,1) = 0.92-0.97), children with TD (ICC (1,1) = 0.94-0.95)]. Within-session reliability for the TUG test was good [children with TBI (ICC (1,1) = 0.86), children with TD (ICC (1,1) = 0.85)]. The average of the first and second trials showed the least measurement error for the TUG test.


CONCLUSIONS
Within-session reliability values are excellent for the MFRT and good for the TUG test in children with TBI.
Katz-Leurer
Michal
M
Pediatric and Adolescent Rehabilitation Center, Alyn Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel. michalkz@post.tau.ac.il
Rotem
Hemda
H
Lewitus
Hana
H
Keren
Ofer
O
Meyer
Shirley
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D026761:Physical Therapy Specialty / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards*; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results