pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

RELIABILITY AND MINIMAL DETECTABLE CHANGE OF THE UPPER QUARTER Y-BALANCE TEST IN HEALTHY ADOLESCENTS AGED 12 TO 17 YEARS - PubMed

. 2019 Dec;14(6):927-934.

Affiliations

RELIABILITY AND MINIMAL DETECTABLE CHANGE OF THE UPPER QUARTER Y-BALANCE TEST IN HEALTHY ADOLESCENTS AGED 12 TO 17 YEARS

Gerrit Schwiertz et al. Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2019 Dec.

Abstract

Purpose/background: There are a few studies investigating the reproducibility of the Upper Quarter Y Balance Test (YBT-UQ) in adults. However, no study has determined test-retest reliability and the minimal detectable change of the YBT-UQ in adolescents from different age cohorts. The aim of the present study was to establish test-retest reliability and minimal detectable change of the YBT-UQ in a sample of healthy adolescents.

Methods: In a school setting, 111 students (59 female, 52 male) aged 12-17 years performed the YBT-UQ twice, separated by one week. Normalized maximal reach distances (% arm length) for all three directions (i.e., medial, inferolateral, superolateral) and the composite score were used as outcome measures. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC3,1) and standard error of measurement (SEM) were calculated to assess both relative and absolute test-retest reliability. In addition, the minimal detectable change (MDC95%), an index that is defined as the minimal amount of change in performance that falls outside the measurement error or performance changes due to variability was determined.

Results: Irrespective of age cohort, reach arm, and reach direction, the measure of relative reliability ranged from "moderate-to-good" to "excellent" ICC values and the proxy of absolute reliability was rather small (i.e., SEM ≤ 7.6%). The MDC95% needed to identify relevant effects in repeated measurements of the YBT-UQ performance ranged between 4.8% and 21.1%, depending on age, reach arm, and reach direction.

Conclusions: The detected values imply that the YBT-UQ is a reliable field test that can be used to detect changes of upper quarter mobility/stability in healthy adolescents aged 12-17 years.

Level of evidence: 2b.

Keywords: adolescent; motor control; movement system; practical relevance; reproducibility; school ­setting; upper quarter mobility/stability.

© 2019 by the Sports Physical Therapy Section.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.

Participant performing the Upper Quarter Y-Balance Test medial (A), inferolateral (B), and superolateral (C) reach.

Figure 2.
Figure 2.

Bland-Altman plots for the composite score (CS) during left arm reach for the 12-year-olds (A), the 13-year-olds (B), the 14-year-olds (C), the 15-year-olds (D), the 16-year-olds (E), and the 17-year-olds (F). The difference between the test and retest measurements is plotted against the mean of the respective measurements. Solid lines indicate the average of the differences. Dotted lines indicate the mean ± 1.96 standard deviations (i.e., limit of agreement).

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Gorman PP Butler RJ Plisky PJ Kiesel KB. Upper Quarter Y Balance Test: reliability and performance comparison between gender in active adults. J Strength Cond Res. 2012;26:3043-8. - PubMed
    1. Westrick RB Miller JM Carow SD Gerber JP. Exploration of the y-balance test for assessment of upper quarter closed kinetic chain performance. Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2012;7:139-47. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Borms D Cools A. Upper-extremity functional performance tests: reference values for overhead athletes. Int J Sports Med. 2018;39:433-41. - PubMed
    1. Haley SM Fragala-Pinkham MA. Interpreting change scores of tests and measures used in physical therapy. Phys Ther. 2006;86:735-43. - PubMed
    1. Malina RM Bouchard C Bar-Or O. Growth, maturation, and physical activity. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2004.

LinkOut - more resources