Baldwin Emma, Kinsella Sharon, Byrne Paul J
Department of Health and Sport Sciences, South East Technological University, Kilkenny Road Campus, R93 V960 Carlow, Ireland.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2024 Jul 25;14(8):640. doi: 10.3390/bs14080640.
Previous research has proven that the balance of autistic children is poor. However, the reliability of assessing balance in this cohort has been inadequately researched. This study therefore aimed to examine if field-based static and dynamic balance tests can be reliably assessed in autistic children, to determine the number of familiarisation sessions required and whether autistic severity impacts on the reliability of these balance tests. The balance of eighteen primary school-aged autistic children was assessed three times a week over five weeks, using the flamingo balance test, a modified version of the balance error scoring system (BESS), the low beam walking test, and the heel to toe walking test. Reliability criteria included an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) level of ≥0.75 and a coefficient of variance (CV%) of ≤46% for the low beam walking test, the heel to toe walking test, and the BESS, and a CV% of ≤82% or the flamingo balance test. Inter-session reliability was achieved and required the least number of familiarisation sessions for the flamingo balance test, compared to the low beam walking test, which required a greater number of familiarisation sessions to achieve inter-session reliability. The heel to toe walking test and the BESS achieved inter-session reliability and familiarisation in an acceptable time frame. Due to the large CV% values reported in the current study, practitioners need to be aware that balance interventions need to achieve improvements greater than the CV% in this cohort.
先前的研究已证明自闭症儿童的平衡能力较差。然而，对这一群体平衡能力评估的可靠性研究不足。因此，本研究旨在探讨基于现场的静态和动态平衡测试在自闭症儿童中是否能得到可靠评估，确定所需的熟悉训练次数，以及自闭症严重程度是否会影响这些平衡测试的可靠性。在五周时间里，每周对18名小学年龄段的自闭症儿童进行三次平衡能力评估，采用火烈鸟平衡测试、改良版平衡误差评分系统（BESS）、低梁行走测试和足跟到足尖行走测试。可靠性标准包括：低梁行走测试、足跟到足尖行走测试和BESS的组内相关系数（ICC）水平≥0.75，变异系数（CV%）≤46%；火烈鸟平衡测试的CV%≤82%。各测试间均实现了可靠性，与低梁行走测试相比，火烈鸟平衡测试所需的熟悉训练次数最少，低梁行走测试需要更多的熟悉训练次数才能实现各测试间的可靠性。足跟到足尖行走测试和BESS在可接受的时间范围内实现了各测试间的可靠性和熟悉训练。由于本研究报告的CV%值较大，从业者需要意识到，在这一群体中，平衡干预措施需要实现大于CV%的改善。
