title: Measuring postural stability in young children with cerebral palsy: a comparison of 2 instruments.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare construct validity, interrater and test-retest reliabilities of the Pediatric Reach Test and the Early Clinical Assessment of Balance (ECAB), and their relationships with the Gross Motor Function Measure, 66-item version, Basal and Ceiling approach (GMFM-66-B&C) to appraise clinical utility of postural stability measures for children with cerebral palsy (CP).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 28 children with CP, 2 to 7 years old, across all functional ability levels participated in 2 assessments over 2 weeks. Two assessors scored the measures during the first assessment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both measures demonstrated construct validity, rs of 0.88 (P < .001). Both measures correlated with GMFM-66-B&C, rs > 0.95. Interrater and test-retest reliabilities were stronger for the ECAB than for the Pediatric Reach Test (intraclass correlation coefficients > 0.98 vs 0.87-0.94). The ECAB demonstrated lower measurement error and proportionately smaller minimal detectable change values.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ECAB is considered the better measure of postural stability among children with CP.
authors: Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Program (Ms Randall), and School of Physical Therapy (Dr Bartlett), Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research (Dr Bartlett), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Department of Rehabilitation Medicine (Dr Westcott), Division of Physical Therapy, University of Washington, Seattle.
authors: Katharine Elizabeth
authors: KE
authors: Randall
authors: Doreen J
authors: DJ
authors: Bartlett
authors: Sarah Westcott
authors: SW
authors: McCoy
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D015203:Reproducibility of Results