Overcoming the Limitations of the Berg Balance Scale (BBS)

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

4:14 PM – 4:30 PM

Non-presenting author(s)

EMMANUELLA OSUJI, BSc., MSc.

Program Coordinator
University of Alberta, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Slides

Non-presenting Author(s)

Martin W. Ferguson-Pell, PhD

Professor
University of Alberta Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Adalberto Loyola-Sanchez, MD, MSc, PhD

Assistant Professor
Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Presenting Author(s)

EA

Emily Armstrong, n/a

Project Coordinator
University of Alberta, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

The Berg Balance Scale (BBS) relies on the semi-quantitive insensitive assessment of patient function by clinicians conducting the tests. Like many rehabilitation assessments, it could benefit from more sensitive and robust measurements while still retaining the clinical value of functional tests that relate to activities of daily living. Research in our lab has indicated that there is poor reliability and repeatability between the BBS tasks that is hidden by the insensitivity of the way we make these measurements.

The variability that occurs when partcipants perform the sit to stand test, for example, highlights the limitations of current testing methods and supports the utilization of more precision in rehabilitation assessments. This presentation focuses on the sit to stand test, which is a component of the BBS, and demonstrates how motion capture measurements can highlight subtle improvements in patient functionality, bringing bio-mechanics lab technologies into the clinic.

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion, participants will be able to identify areas of the Berg Balance Scale that may be inadequate for measuring actual falling risk.
Upon completion, participants will be able to list the benefits of markerless motion capture.
Upon completion, participants will be able to list the performance measures used in the eV-BBS