Translation, Adaptation, and Determining the Intra-Rater Reliability of the Balance Evaluation Systems Test (BESTest) for Persian Patients with Chronic Stroke

Abstract

This study aimed to translate and culturally adapt the BESTest to the Persian language and evaluate its intra-rater reliability in Iranian patients with stroke. A forward-backward translation and expert panel review method was followed. Eighteen patients post-stroke (15 men, 3 female) were included which were assessed by a physiotherapist two times with a one-week interval. The mean total score for the test and retest were 83.66 (SD = 11.98) and 82 (SD = 13.23), respectively. There were no floor and ceiling effects. The intra-rater ICC for the total score was 0.88 (95% CI = 0.73–0.95). The ICC for the BESTest sections ranged from 0.55 (95% CI = 0.12–0.80) to 0.89 (95% CI = 0.55–0.96). The standard error of measurement and the smallest detectable change of the BESTest total score were 8.33 and 22.82, respectively. Our findings confirm the intra-rater reliability of the Persian BESTest for balance assessment of patients with chronic stroke.