Reliability of balance evaluation in children with cerebral palsy.

The evaluation of balance in children with cerebral palsy (CP) is an extremely difficult and complex procedure. The purpose of the present study was the evaluation of three balance tests: Berg Balance Scale (BBS), time up and go (TUG) and Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOTMP) and their reliability in children with CP. The control of the reliability of the tests was based on the successive application to twenty children with CP within a short period in order to substantiate their ability to give the same results in a stable sample. No difference was found according to scores between the measures but important statistical differences were found of the scores of the children in all tests. The tests BBS, TUG and BOTMP are considered to be reliable and valid tests, able to objectively define the quantitative mutation of the balance of the child in test with CP.