Concurrent validity and reliability of the Pediatric Postural Balance Scale in Chilean preschool and school-aged children with typical development

Introduction. The pediatric postural balance scale (PBS) is a valuable clinical tool for assessing postural balance in preschool and school-aged children with typical or atypical development. Objective. To assess the PBS's concurrent validity and inter-rater reliability in Chilean preschoolers and schoolchildren with typical development. Population and methods. Two hundred and three preschool and school children aged 4 to 11 (7.6 ± 2.1 years, 56.2% males) from public and private schools participated in a cross-sectional validation study. Postural balance was evaluated with PBS and postural oscillography, considering maximum lateral velocity (MLV), maximum anteroposterior velocity (MAPV), mean total velocity (MTV), mean radius (MR), and center of pressure area (COP area). Anthropometric parameters and socioeconomic level were measured. Results. The inter-rater reliability for the PBS with the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.99 (95%CI: 0.990-0.997). There were weak inverse correlations between PBS total score and oscillography (MLV, MAPV, MTV, MR, and COP area) in the 4- to 6-year age group, standing out the correlations of mean radius (rho: -0.36; p 0.002) and COP area (Rho: -0.37; p 0.001). Conclusion. These results suggest that the PBS provides a very strong inter-rater reliability and a weak inverse correlation between the PBS total score and postural oscillography measures in the 4- to 6-yearold age group. Therefore, using PBS is recommended primarily in preschoolers and school children between 4 and 6 years of age.