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Updated: Mar 8, 2026
Quantitative Static and Dynamic Assessment of Balance Control in Stroke Patients
Published on: May 17, 2020
Test-retest reliability and minimal detectable change of two simplified 3-point balance measures in patients with
Yi-Miau Chen1, Yi-Jing Huang2, Chien-Yu Huang3
1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Background:
The 3-point Berg Balance Scale (BBS-3P) and 3-point Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke Patients (PASS-3P) were simplified from the BBS and PASS to overcome the complex scoring systems. The BBS-3P and PASS-3P were more feasible in busy clinical practice and showed similarly sound validity and responsiveness to the original measures. However, the reliability of the BBS-3P and PASS-3P is unknown limiting their utility and the interpretability of scores.
Aim:
We aimed to examine the test-retest reliability and minimal detectable change (MDC) of the BBS-3P and PASS-3P in patients with stroke.
Design:
Cross-sectional study.
Setting:
The rehabilitation departments of a medical center and a community hospital.
Population:
A total of 51 chronic stroke patients (64.7% male).
Methods:
Both balance measures were administered twice 7 days apart. The test-retest reliability of both the BBS-3P and PASS-3P were examined by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). The MDC and its percentage over the total score (MDC%) of each measure was calculated for examining the random measurement errors.
Results:
The ICC values of the BBS-3P and PASS-3P were 0.99 and 0.97, respectively. The MDC% (MDC) of the BBS-3P and PASS-3P were 9.1% (5.1 points) and 8.4% (3.0 points), respectively, indicating that both measures had small and acceptable random measurement errors.
Conclusions:
Our results showed that both the BBS-3P and the PASS-3P had good test-retest reliability, with small and acceptable random measurement error. These two simplified 3-level balance measures can provide reliable results over time.
Clinical Rehabilitation Impact:
Our findings support the repeated administration of the BBS-3P and PASS-3P to monitor the balance of patients with stroke. The MDC values can help clinicians and researchers interpret the change scores more precisely.
