title: Investigating the Mini-BESTest's construct validity in elderly with Parkinson's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Mini-BESTest consists of items relevant to balance deficiencies among people with Parkinson's disease (PwPD). However, the Mini-BESTest's construct validity has been sparsely evaluated in this population. We therefore aimed to investigate the hypotheses that the Mini-BESTest results would be worse among: (i) PwPD compared to healthy controls; (ii) PwPD with moderate compared to mild motor severity; (iii) PwPD with a history of recurrent compared to non-recurrent falls. Moreover, the relationship between the Mini-BESTest and tests of similar and different constructs was expected to be moderate to strong and poor, respectively.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and five PwPD with mild-to-moderate motor severity and 47 healthy controls were included. PwPD were divided into subgroups based on motor severity and fall history. Main outcome measures were the Mini-BESTest, the timed up and go (TUG), and the original Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, part II (Activities of Daily Living). Independent t-tests and Spearman's rho were used for the analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Mini-BESTest results were worse among PwPD compared to controls (P<.001), and among people with moderate motor severity compared to those with mild severity (P<.001). However, no differences were found between recurrent and non-recurrent fallers (P=.096). Spearman's rho showed moderate (ρ=-.470) and poor correlations (ρ=-.211) for convergent (TUG) and divergent validity (UPDRS, part II), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, the Mini-BESTest appears to adequately measure dynamic balance among PwPD with mild-to-moderate severity, although it was unable to distinguish between recurrent and non-recurrent fallers.
authors.affiliation: Division of Physiotherapy, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Löfgren
authors.affiliation: Division of Physiotherapy, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benka Wallén
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychology, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sorjonen
authors.affiliation: Division of Physiotherapy, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.|Functional Area Occupational Therapy & Physiotherapy, Allied Health Professionals Function, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Conradsson
authors.affiliation: Division of Physiotherapy, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.|Functional Area Occupational Therapy & Physiotherapy, Allied Health Professionals Function, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Franzén
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control; D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009460:Neurologic Examination / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004856:Postural Balance
keywords: Hoehn and Yahr scale; balance control; falling; psychometric properties