Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2026
Screening People on Standing Balance with Romberg Testing and Walking Balance with Tandem Walking
Published on: September 1, 2023
Reliability, responsiveness, and validity of the Kansas University Standing Balance Scale
Patricia Kluding1, Bonnie Swafford, Perri Cagle
1Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Blvd, Mail Stop 2002, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA. pkluding@kumc.edu
Purpose:
The purpose of this research was to investigate the reliability, responsiveness, and concurrent validity of the Kansas University Standing Balance Scale (KUSBS).
Methods:
For the reliability study, the KUSBS was used twice on 2 separate days with 23 inpatient rehabilitation patients. To assess responsiveness and concurrent validity, a retrospective chart review of 25 patients was performed to examine changes in KUSBS scores and changes in FIM transfer and walking scores from admission to discharge.
Results:
In the reliability study, the KUSBS was found to have good intra-rater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC = 0.893 for novice physical therapists, ICC = 0.765 for experienced physical therapists), and moderate inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.728). In comparing scores at admission and discharge to determine responsiveness, KUSBS scores were significantly different at these 2 times (p = 0.001), and the effect size was 0.58. In the concurrent validity study, changes in KUSBS scores were significantly correlated with changes in the FIM mark transfer score (rs = 0.486, p = 0.014) but correlation with changes in the FIM walking score did not reach significance (rs = 0.383, p = 0.06).
Conclusion:
The reliability, responsiveness, and concurrent validity of the KUSBS are promising, although further study is needed to examine this scale in different therapy settings with a larger sample.
