THE BALANCE SCALE - RELIABILITY ASSESSMENT WITH ELDERLY RESIDENTS ANDPATIENTS WITH AN ACUTE STROKE

The objective of this study was to assess the reliability of the Balan ce Scale. Subjects were chosen from a larger group of 113 elderly resi dents and 70 stroke patients participating in a psychometric study. El derly residents were examined at baseline, and at 3, 6 and 9 months, a nd the stroke patients were evaluated at 2, 4, 6 and 12 weeks post ons et. The Cronbach's alphas at each evaluation were greater than 0.83 an d 0.97 for the elderly residents and stroke patients respectively, sho wing strong internal consistency. To assess inter-rater reliability, t herapists treating 35 stroke patients were asked to administer the Bal ance Scale within 24 hours of the independent evaluator. Similarly, ca regivers at the Residence were asked to test the elderly residents wit hin one week of the independent evaluator, To assess intra-rater relia bility, 18 residents and 6 stroke patients were assessed one week apar t by the same rater. The agreement between raters was excellent (ICC=0 .98) as was the consistency within the same rater at two points in tim e (ICC=0.97). The results support the use of the Balance Scale in thes e groups.