Reliability of Berg Balance Scale in Balance Function of Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy

Objective:To examine the inter- and intra-rater reliability of the Berg Balance Scale for children with spastic cerebral palsy in order to guide the clinical rehabilitation. Methods: Twenty children with spastic cerebral palsy were enrolled into this study. The Berg Balance Scale was applied to assess each child for two sessions in one week by the two physical therapists. The first session was tested within one day after children's admission. The second one was performed within three days after the first assessment. Inter- and intra-rater reliability was analyzed by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: The inter-rater reliability was good (ICC=0.941-0.977) on the total score, the static score and the dynamic score of the Berg Balance Scale. The ICC for intra-rater reliability of the composite score was 0.963-0.988. They all concentrated in the 95% confidence interval (P0.001). Conclusion: The Berg Balance Scale had high inter- and intra-rater reliability. The Berg Balance Scale can be used as a balance measure tool for children with spastic cerebral palsy.