Article

There is a need for a valid assessment test of balance in early
Parkinson's disease (PD). OBJECTIVE: To validate the Backstrand Dahlberg Liljenas
Balance Scale (BDL), a test of balance performance constructed to assess mild to
moderate balance disability due to neurological disease, for use in persons with
early PD. METHODS: Cross-sectional psychometric evaluation study from a
convenience sample community-dwelling persons with PD (n = 28). MAIN MEASURES:
The BDL was validated using the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), the motor part of the
Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (mUPDRS), the Timed Up and Go (TUG) and
Timed Up and Go-cognition (CTUG). Correlations were calculated by Spearman's rank
correlation coefficient (rho). Rasch analyses were used to test the internal
construct of the BDL. The result from the BDL was compared to a healthy reference
group. RESULTS: The correlation between the BDL and the BBS (rho = 0.703) was
high positive, while for mUPDRS (rho = -0.280), TUG (rho = -0.321) and CTUG (rho
= -0.361) the correlations with the BDL were negligible to low negative. The
Rasch analyses for the BDL showed a good distribution of the task difficulties
with neither ceiling nor floor effect among individual measures. There was a
significant difference (p = 0.03) in performance of the BDL between the PD group
and the healthy reference group. CONCLUSIONS: The BDL Balance Scale can be
considered a valid clinical assessment test when evaluating balance training
interventions in persons with early PD. It can be recommended as an outcome
measure in clinical practice and in clinical research within this population.

Langue : ANGLAIS