The Reliability of the Star-Excursion Test in Assessing Dynamic Balance

Quantification of dynamic balance is often necessary to assess a patient's level of injury or ability to function in order to initiate an appropriate plan of care. Some therapists use the star-excursion test in an attempt to quantify dynamic balance. This test requires the patient to balance on one leg while reaching with the other leg. For the purpose of this study, the reach was performed in four directions. No previous researchers have attempted to evaluate the reliability of this test. Twenty healthy subjects between the ages of 18 and 35 years participated in this study. During two testing sessions, each subject was required to perform five reaching trials in four directions. Reliability estimates, calculated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (2, 1), ranged from 0.67 to 0.87. Six duplicate practice sessions were suggested to increase this range above 0.86. Task complexity may account for the moderate reliability estimates. Subjects should engage in a learning period before being evaluated on the star-excursion test.