Reliability and sensitivity to change of the timed standing balance test in children with down syndrome.

Objective: To estimate the reliability and sensitivity to change of the timed standing balance test in children with Down syndrome (DS).

Methods: It was a nonblinded, comparison study with a convenience sample of subjects consisting of children with DS (n = 9) aged 8-17 years. The main outcome measure was standing balance which was assessed using timed standing balance test, the time required to maintain in four conditions, eyes open static, eyes closed static, eyes open dynamic, and eyes closed dynamic.

Results: Relative reliability was excellent for all four conditions with an Interclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) ranging from 0.91 to 0.93. The variation between repeated measurements for each condition was minimal with standard error of measurement (SEM) of 0.21-0.59 s, suggestive of excellent absolute reliability. The sensitivity to change as measured by smallest real change (SRC) was 1.27 s for eyes open static, 1.63 s for eyes closed static, 0.58 s for eyes open dynamic, and 0.61 s for eyes closed static.

Conclusions: Timed standing balance test is an easy to administer test and sensitive to change with strong absolute and relative reliabilities, an important first step in establishing its utility as a clinical balance measure in children with DS.