title: Utility of the Mini-BESTest, BESTest, and BESTest sections for balance assessments in individuals with Parkinson disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Balance Evaluation Systems Test(BESTest) has been shown to be a reliable and valid measure of balance in individuals with Parkinson disease (PD). A less time-consuming assessment may increase clinical utility. We compared the discriminative fall risk ability of the Mini-BESTest with that of the BESTest and determined the reliability and normal distribution of scores for each section of the BESTest and the Mini-BESTest in individuals with PD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty individuals with idiopathic PD were assessed using the BESTest and Mini-BESTest. A faller was defined as an individual with 2 or more falls in the prior 6 months. Subsets of individuals were used to determine interrater (n = 15) and test-retest reliability (n = 24).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Mini-BESTest, total BESTest score, and all sections of the BESTest showed a significant difference between the average scores of fallers and nonfallers. For both the Mini-BESTest and BESTest, interrater (intraclass correlation ICC ≥ 0.91) and test-retest (ICC ≥ 0.88) reliability was high. The Mini-BESTest and BESTest were highly correlated (r = 0.955). Accuracy of identifying a faller was comparable for the Mini-BESTest and BESTest (area under the receiver operating characteristic plots = 0.86 and 0.84, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No specific section of the BESTest captured the primary balance deficit for individuals with PD. The posttest probabilities for discriminating fallers versus nonfallers were comparable-to-slightly stronger when using the Mini-BESTest.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the Mini-BESTest has fewer than half of the items in the BESTest and takes only 15 minutes to complete, it is as reliable as the BESTest and has comparable-to-slightly greater discriminative properties for identifying fallers in individuals with PD.
authors.affiliation: Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, USA.
authors.forename: Abigail L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Leddy
authors.forename: Beth E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Crowner
authors.forename: Gammon M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Earhart
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment