Functional balance tests for children with traumatic brain injury: within-session reliability

Area of Science:

• Pediatric rehabilitation
• Neurological assessment
• Motor function evaluation

Background:

• Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children can impact motor function.
• Reliable assessment tools are crucial for tracking recovery and guiding interventions.
• The Modified Functional Reach Test (MFRT) and Timed Up and Go (TUG) test are commonly used mobility assessments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the within-session reliability of the MFRT and TUG test.
• To compare reliability between children with TBI and typically developing (TD) children.
• To establish the suitability of these tests for pediatric TBI populations.

Main Methods:

• A sample of 24 children with TBI and 24 TD children were recruited.
• Participants completed 3 trials of the MFRT and TUG test after 1 practice trial.
• Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated to assess reliability.

Main Results:

• The MFRT demonstrated excellent within-session reliability in both children with TBI (ICC = 0.92-0.97) and TD children (ICC = 0.94-0.95).
• The TUG test showed good within-session reliability in children with TBI (ICC = 0.86) and TD children (ICC = 0.85).
• For the TUG test, averaging the first two trials minimized measurement error.

Conclusions:

• The MFRT exhibits excellent within-session reliability for children with TBI.
• The TUG test demonstrates good within-session reliability in this population.
• Both the MFRT and TUG tests are reliable tools for assessing motor function in children with TBI.