Inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of the Brief-BESTest in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Objective: To investigate the inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of the Brief Balance Evaluation System Test (Brief-BESTest) in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and its correlation between the Brief-BESTest score and lung function, functional exercise capacity, functional lower limb strength, and fear of falling. Design: Prospective, single-group, observational study. Setting: Outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation program. Subjects: People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who were attending a pulmonary rehabilitation program. Intervention: Participants performed three Brief-BESTests on two separate days, assessed by two independent physiotherapists. Participants also performed a lung function test, two 6-minute walk tests, the five sit-to-stand test and completed the Fall Efficacy Scale International questionnaire. Results: Thirty participants (mean (SD) age was 72 (7), forced expiratory volume in 1 second % predicted was 47 (16%), and baseline 6-minute walk distance was 427 (90) meters) completed the study. The interclass coefficients of the inter-rater and intra-rater reliability were 0.86 and 0.96, respectively. The Brief-BESTest score was moderately correlated with the 6-minute walk distance (r = 0.49, P < 0.01) and the five sit-to-stand test time (r =-0.54, P < 0.01). No adverse events were reported after the completion of 90 tests in this study. Conclusion: The Brief-BESTest was shown to have good inter- and intra-rater reliability for measuring balance in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A moderate correlation was demonstrated between the Brief-BESTest balance score with functional exercise capacity and functional lower limb strength in this population.