title: Minimum detectable change for single-leg-stance-time in older adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Knowledge of real change values for clinical balance measures can guide clinicians and researchers in interpretation of change scores to evaluate the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions. We are not aware of studies that have reported minimum change values for single-leg-stance-time (SLST) in community-dwelling older adults. A measure of absolute reliability, the standard error of measurement (SEM), can be used to compute minimum detectable change (MDC), a clinically useful indicator of change in performance exceeding that attributable to measurement error. The purpose of this study was to quantify MDC for SLST in community-dwelling older adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-five adults (60-89 years) performed repeated trials of SLST. Relative and absolute reliability for SLST were quantified using the intraclass correlation coefficient and SEM. The MDC was computed from the SEM.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SEM was 8.7 s and MDC at the 95% confidence level was 24.1 s for SLST. SLST exhibited large measurement error (40.8%) and high minimum change (113.1%) percent values.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Change in SLST performance should exceed 24.1 s to be considered real change. SLST exhibits poor absolute reliability and appears unlikely to be sensitive to detecting change in performance in geriatric clinical settings and research studies.
authors: Department of Health Care Sciences, Program in Physical Therapy, Mobility Research Laboratory, Wayne State University, 259 Mack Ave., Detroit, MI 48201, USA. agoldberg@wayne.edu
authors: Allon
authors: A
authors: Goldberg
authors: Allison
authors: A
authors: Casby
authors: Michelle
authors: M
authors: Wasielewski
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*