Objective : The Mini-Balance Evaluation Systems Test (Mini-BESTest) is an assessment tool for dynamic balance dysfunction developed by simplifying the Balance Evaluation Systems Test (BESTest). The purpose of our study was to examine the validity of the Japanese version of the Mini-BESTest (J-Mini-BESTest) we translated. Methods : The J-Mini-BESTest was produced using a translation and back translation method referring to a guideline proposed by Guillemin et al. We tested 20 patients with balance dysfunction due to various diseases and 7 healthy persons with the J-Mini-BESTest, the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) and the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC Scale). We assessed the concurrent validity of the J-Mini-BESTest by comparing it with the other measures using the Spearman's correlation method. Results : The average assessment time when using the J-Mini-BESTest was 20.0 minutes. The J-Mini-BESTest was correlated with the BBS (r=0.82, p<0.01), FES-I (r=-0.72, p<0.01) and ABC Scale (r=0.80, p<0.01). The distribution of the BBS scores was more skewed compared to the J-Mini-BESTest (BBS skewness=-1.30 vs. J-Mini-BESTest skewness=-0.47) and the BBS also had a ceiling effect (9 participants had a perfect score in the BBS versus none in the J-Mini-BESTest). Conclusion : The J-Mini-BESTest was suggested as a clinically useful tool for detecting subtle dynamic balance deficits with good concurrent validity.

Objective : The Balance Evaluation Systems Test (BESTest) is a new balance assessment set based on systems theory. The purpose was to examine the validity of the Japanese version of the BESTest (J-BESTest) that we translated. Methods : The J-BESTest was produced using a translation and back translation method referenced from a guideline proposed by Guillemin et al. We tested 20 patients with balance dysfunction due to various diseases and 5 healthy persons with the J-BESTest, the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) and the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC Scale). We assessed the concurrent validity of the J-BESTest by comparing it with the other measures using Spearman's correlation method. Furthermore, we compared the ability of the J-BESTest to discriminate balance dysfunction with that of the BBS using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses. Results : The J-BESTest was highly correlated with BBS (r=0.84, p<0.01), FES-I (r=-0.61, p<0.01) and ABC Scale (r=0.63, p<0.01). The distribution of the BBS score was more skewed compared with the J-BESTest and had a ceiling effect (6 participants had perfect scores with BBS versus none with the J-BESTest). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the J-BESTest was significantly larger than that of BBS (BBS 0.75, 95% confidence interval 0.56-0.94 versus J-BESTest 0.94, 95% confidence interval 0.84.1.0, p<0.05). Conclusion : The J-BESTest was suggested as a clinically useful tool, with good concurrent validity and better sensitivity and specificity than BBS, to identify people with mild balance dysfunction.