Reliability, responsiveness, and validity of the Kansas University Standing Balance Scale.

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.