Intra-rater reliability, minimum detectable change, and sensitivity of equilibrium coordination tests for school-going children

Reliability and other properties for most equilibrium coordination tests have not been established yet among children. Hence, the aim of the present study was to find out the intra-rater reliability, minimum detectable change, and sensitivity of sideways walking, tandem walking, cross-stepping, heel walking, and toe walking among children. 1,104 children of age group 8-17 years with convenient sampling were recruited for the study. Children were asked to perform sideways walking, tandem walking, cross-stepping, heel walking, and toe walking in a non-orderly fashion one by one, and three readings were obtained. The time taken (in seconds) was recorded through calibrated stopwatch. Relative reliability was determined through the Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC3,1) and Cronbach’s alpha, while the coefficient of variation (CV%) and standard error of mean (SEM) were used to establish absolute reliability. The sensitivity of the tests was evaluated by comparing the values of the smallest worthwhile change (SWC) and SEM. minimum detectable change at 95% confidence interval (MDC95) was also estimated. Intra-rater reliability of sideways walking, tandem walking, cross stepping, heel walking, and toe walking to cover a 10 m distance was estimated as 0.97, 0.98, 0.98, 0.94, and 0.97, respectively. Excellent absolute reliability of the tests was established with values less than one. Sensitivity was found to be ‘Good’ for all the tests. Sideways walking, tandem walking, cross-stepping, heel walking, and toe walking are highly reliable tools for the assessment of coordination among children. Registered on Clinical trials with trial no. NCT05159297.