The relationship between balance ability and walking ability using the Berg Balance Scale in people with transfemoral amputation.

Background: Few reports have examined the relationship between balance ability and walking ability in people with transfemoral amputation using the Berg Balance Scale.

Objectives: To assess the construct validity (known groups discrimination, convergent validity, and floor/ceiling effects) of Berg Balance Scale for people with transfemoral amputation.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Methods: Thirty people with transfemoral amputation participated (age: 54 ± 19 years; range: 18-78 years). Outcome measures (Berg Balance Scale, Timed Up & Go test, Six-Minute Walk Test, and use of ambulatory aids) were compared between the groups requiring and not requiring ambulatory aids by the Mann-Whitney U test, Student's -test or Welch's -test. Correlations were assessed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficients and age-corrected Spearman's partial rank correlation coefficients.

Results: The group using ambulatory aids had a significantly lower Berg Balance Scale score (41 ± 5 vs 52 ± 3). Berg Balance Scale score was correlated with Timed Up & Go test, use of aids, and Six-Minute Walk Test using Spearman's rank correlation coefficients (r =-0.85, p < 0.0001; r =-0.82, p < 0.0001; r = 0.81, p < 0.0001) and age-corrected partial rank correlation coefficients (r =-0.66, p < 0.0001; r =-0.56, p = 0.0017; r = 0.57, p = 0.0012). No ceiling effect of Berg Balance Scale was observed.

Conclusions: Balance ability in people with transfemoral amputation could be evaluated using Berg Balance Scale and is correlated with walking ability.

Clinical Relevance: In clinical practice, using Berg Balance Scale for people with transfemoral amputation may adequately enable us to discriminate different groups based on walking ability from the perspective of balance ability. When walking ability is evaluated as low, the improvement of walking ability may be evaluated by Berg Balance Scale improvement during rehabilitation.