Physical Therapy Publications
Influence of Age and Gender of Healthy Adults on Scoring Patterns on the Community Balance and Mobility Scale
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2005
Journal
Physiotherapy Canada
Volume
57
Issue
4
First Page
285
Last Page
292
URL with Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/ptc.57.4.285
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of the study was to describe and compare scoring patterns on the Community Balance and Mobility Scale (CB&M) in healthy men and women between 30 and 59 years of age.
Methods: Following criterion testing on 5 individuals, 90 healthy volunteers who met the inclusion criteria and consented to participate in the study were tested on the CB&M. The subjects were recruited through quota sampling in three age categories: 30 to 39 years, 40 to 49 years, and 50 to 59 years, with 15 men and 15 women in each age category. The groups were not matched for any anthropometric variables.
Results: Women within the age category of 50 to 59 years had significantly lower scores on the CB&M compared with all other age and gender categories.
Conclusions: The results from this study indicate that although the items on the CB&M were appropriate for the 30- to 59-year age categories, some items still posed a challenge to healthy participants because most were unable to score full points on the CB&M. The normative data from the present study could help clinicians put the CB&M scores of middle-aged patients into context. These data may also be useful in making recommendations regarding the safe integration of patients back into the community following mild stroke.
