Intra-Rater and Inter-Rater Reliability of the Balance Error Scoring System in Pre-Adolescent School Children

• Published in: Measurement in physical education and exercise science Vol. 15; no. 3; pp. 234 - 243
• Main Authors: Sheehan, Dwayne P., Lafave, Mark R., Katz, Larry
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Taylor & Francis Group 01.07.2011; Routledge; Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Canada; child development; Elementary Education; Elementary School Students; Elementary Schools; Evaluation Methods; Grade 4; Grade 5; Grade 6; Interrater Reliability; Measurement; North Carolina; Physical education; physical education and training; postural balance; Posture; Raw Scores; Reliability; reproducibility of results; Scoring; Universities; North Carolina; Canada; United States > US
• ISSN: 1091-367X; 1532-7841
• DOI: 10.1080/1091367X.2011.568368

This study was designed to test the intra- and inter-rater reliability of the University of North Carolina's Balance Error Scoring System in 9- and 10-year-old children. Additionally, a modified version of the Balance Error Scoring System was tested to determine if it was more sensitive in this population ("raw scores"). Forty-six normally developing fourth-grade students underwent balance testing. Twelve trials measured static and dynamic balance. Four adult raters scored the balance tests to yield Cronbach's alpha scores of reliability. Intra-rater University of North Carolina Balance Error Scoring System α varied from .73 to .94 and .94 to .99 when using the raw scores. The inter-rater University of North Carolina Balance Error Scoring System α of the four raters ranged from .77 to .95 and from .88 to .98 when using the raw scores. The University of North Carolina Balance Error Scoring System shows high reliability when used with fourth-grade elementary school children; however, raw scores may show greater reliability in a population of children.