title: Ghent developmental balance test: a new tool to evaluate balance performance in toddlers and preschool children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Balance is a fundamental component of movement. Early identification of balance problems is important to plan early intervention. The Ghent Developmental Balance Test (GDBT) is a new assessment tool designed to monitor balance from the initiation of independent walking to 5 years of age.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to establish the psychometric characteristics of the GDBT.
  
  
  METHODS
  To evaluate test-retest reliability, 144 children were tested twice on the GDBT by the same examiner, and to evaluate interrater reliability, videotaped GDBT sessions of 22 children were rated by 3 different raters. To evaluate the known-group validity of GDBT scores, z scores on the GDBT were compared between a clinical group (n = 20) and a matched control group (n = 20). Concurrent validity of GDBT scores with the subscale standardized scores of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (M-ABC-2), the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-Second Edition (PDMS-2), and the balance subscale of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test-Second Edition (BOT-2) was evaluated in a combined group of the 20 children from the clinical group and 74 children who were developing typically.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Test-retest and interrater reliability were excellent for the GDBT total scores, with intraclass correlation coefficients of .99 and .98, standard error of measurement values of 0.21 and 0.78, and small minimal detectable differences of 0.58 and 2.08, respectively. The GDBT was able to distinguish between the clinical group and the control group (t(38) = 5.456, P<.001). Pearson correlations between the z scores on GDBT and the standardized scores of specific balance subscales of the M-ABC-2, PDMS-2, and BOT-2 were moderate to high, whereas correlations with subscales measuring constructs other than balance were low.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The GDBT is a reliable and valid clinical assessment tool for the evaluation of balance in toddlers and preschool-aged children.
authors.affiliation: A. De Kegel, PT, MSc, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy, Artevelde University College, Ghent University, Campus Heymans UZ Ghent-2B 3, De Pintelaan 185, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. alexandra.dekegel@ugent.be
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Kegel
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Baetens
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Peersman
authors.forename: Leen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maes
authors.forename: Ingeborg
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dhooge
authors.forename: Hilde
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Van Waelvelde
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis