The reliability of balance, mobility and self-care measures in a population of adults with a learning disability known to a physiotherapy service

Objective: To estimate the reliability of three measures of balance, mobility and activity for use in clinical and research physiotherapy, with adults with a learning disability.Design: Prospective study to investigate test-retest and inter-rater reliability.Setting: Participants' homes and day centres.Measures: The Berg Balance Scale (BBS), the Rivermead Mobility Index (RMI) and the Barthel Activities of Daily Living Index (BI).Participants: Of the 181 adults known to the Nottingham Community Physiotherapy Service for Adults with Learning Disabilities, 64 with a known Rivermead Mobility score of less than three were excluded. Of 117 randomized, a further 21 were found to fail this criteria, 27 had acute medical, social or behavioural problems, 22 were unable to participate or refused: therefore 47 entered the study.Methods: Participants were visited in their own homes by two researchers on two occasions, one week apart and rated independently by each rater. Agreement was assessed with the kappa statistic...