title: Clinimetric properties of the Tinetti Mobility Test, Four Square Step Test, Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale, and spatiotemporal gait measures in individuals with Huntington's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Individuals with Huntington's disease (HD) experience balance and gait problems that lead to falls. Clinicians currently have very little information about the reliability and validity of outcome measures to determine the efficacy of interventions that aim to reduce balance and gait impairments in HD. This study examined the reliability and concurrent validity of spatiotemporal gait measures, the Tinetti Mobility Test (TMT), Four Square Step Test (FSST), and Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale in individuals with HD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants with HD [n = 20; mean age ± SD=50.9 ± 13.7; 7 male] were tested on spatiotemporal gait measures and the TMT, FSST, and ABC Scale before and after a six week period to determine test-retest reliability and minimal detectable change (MDC) values. Linear relationships between gait and clinical measures were estimated using Pearson's correlation coefficients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Spatiotemporal gait measures, the TMT total and the FSST showed good to excellent test-retest reliability (ICC > 0.75). MDC values were 0.30 m/s and 0.17 m/s for velocity in forward and backward walking respectively, four points for the TMT, and 3s for the FSST. The TMT and FSST were highly correlated with most spatiotemporal measures. The ABC Scale demonstrated lower reliability and less concurrent validity than other measures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high test-retest reliability over a six week period and concurrent validity between the TMT, FSST, and spatiotemporal gait measures suggest that the TMT and FSST may be useful outcome measures for future intervention studies in ambulatory individuals with HD.
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, College of Medicine, Division of Physical Therapy, Columbus, OH, United States. Electronic address: kloos.4@osu.edu.
authors.forename: Anne D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Kloos
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, College of Medicine, Division of Physical Therapy, Columbus, OH, United States.
authors.forename: Nora E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Fritz
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, College of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Columbus, OH, United States; The Ohio State University, College of Medicine, Department of Neuroscience, Columbus, OH, United States.
authors.forename: Sandra K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kostyk
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, Center for Biostatistics, Columbus, OH, United States.
authors.forename: Gregory S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, College of Medicine, Division of Physical Therapy, Columbus, OH, United States.
authors.forename: Deb A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Kegelmeyer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
keywords: Balance; Gait; Huntington's disease; Test–retest reliability; Validity