Validation of the Brazilian version of the Berg balance scale for patients with Parkinson's disease.
BACKGROUND
Changes in balance occur with the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD).


OBJECTIVE
To validate the Brazilian version of the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) for PD patients, determining its reliability and internal consistency and correlating it with PD-specific instruments.


METHODS
We evaluated 53 patients (M/F 37/16, mean age+/-SD, 62+/-7.9 years) with PD (mean+/-SD, 7.8+/-4.4 years). Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Schwab and England Scale (SandE , Hoehn and Yahr Staging Scale (HY) and BBS were used to assess patients. Statistical analyses for inter-rater reliability, internal consistency and correlations among BBS, UPDRS, SandE and HY were performed.


RESULTS
The mean scores+/-SD on UPDRS and BBS were, respectively, 41.6+/-17.8 and 47.2+/-8.2. The median on SandE and HY scales were 80% and 2.5, respectively. The BBS presented a high intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC=0.84) and internal consistency (Cronbrach's alpha=0.92). There was a statistically significant correlation between BBS and disease duration (r(s)= -0.520, p<0.001), UPDRS subscales II and III (r(s)= -0.467, p=0.011; r(s)= -0.374, p=0.046, respectively), stage of disease (HY; r(s)= -0.507, p<0.001) and the activities of daily living (SandE; r(s)=0.492, p<0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
The BBS is a promising tool for the assessment of balance in PD, correlating with the stage of disease and the level of independence.
Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte MG, Brazil.
Paula L
PL
Scalzo
Isabella C
IC
Nova
Mônica R
MR
Perracini
Daniel R C
DR
Sacramento
Francisco
F
Cardoso
Henrique B
HB
Ferraz
Antonio Lúcio
AL
Teixeira
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014175:Translating