title: A reliable and valid outcome battery for measuring recovery of lower limb function and balance after burn injury.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The measurement of recovery after burns to the lower limbs is hampered by an absence validated injury specific tools. This research aimed to select and validate a battery of outcome measures of recovery after lower limb burn injury (LLBI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Reliability study: Reliability of the single leg stance (SLS), the Timed Up and Go (TUG) and the tandem walk (TW) tests were measured using a test-retest trial involving 28 patients with LLBI. Validity study: Clinical data from 172 patients with LLBI were used to compare changes in each LL outcome measure with changes in the Burn Specific Health Scale-Brief (BSHS-B).
  
  
  RESULTS
  All tests, except the SLS test with eyes closed, demonstrated excellent inter-rater reliability (ICCs=0.81-0.93). The TUG and the TW-forwards tests were shown to be valid and to provide additional information to the BSHS-B when combined as a battery. The TW-backwards test was redundant while the SLS and ankle DF measures did not correlate highly with the BSHS-B.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that the TUG test and the TWF are reliable and valid in the burns population and along with the BSHS-B form a useful test battery for measuring recovery from LLBI.
authors.affiliation: Western Australian Burns Service, Royal Perth Hospital, McComb Foundation of WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Vidya
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Finlay
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: Dale
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Edgar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002056:Burns / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D035002:Lower Extremity / Q000293:injuries*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D004856:Postural Balance; D020127:Recovery of Function; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult