Balance and motor skills are essential prerequisites for normal physical development of a child (Gallahue et al., 2012). One of the important motor skills is also balance. Nowadays, the study of balance and its measurement characteristics is gaining more research attention. Some tests have otherwise been developed for clinical purposes, especially for measuring older people and individuals with neurological problems and damage but these are certainly not suitable for testing healthy children. Benefits of these clinical assessments are its simplicity, affordability and are quick to perform. Some of these tests do not have a golden standard in comparison to laboratory balance tests which in generally have good measurement characteristics. There are several methods of measuring balance (electromyography, stabilometry and acceleration tests, posturography, analysis of movement), that give us more specific data but are expensive and time consuming for measure the population, and therefore are more suitable for measuring smaller groups.
The intention of doctoral thesis was to determine the measurement characteristics of some non-laboratory balance tests for eleven-year-olds. The aim of our study was also to examine the relationship between balance ability, fundamental motor skills and morphology measured by using a test battery called “športno-vzgojni karton” (ŠVK), which has recently been renamed into SLOfit test battery. Additionally, we investigated the effect of gender on balance abilities.
We measured 217 eleven-year old pre-adolescents (118 boys and 99 girls). We determined the measurement characteristics of three static balance tests (Flamingo test, one-leg stance on the ground, one-leg stance on the low beam) and three dynamic balance test (walking on the low beam, one-leg stance on T-bench and bipedal stance on T-bench). The golden standard was determined with a tandem stance on the force plate which was measured in 45 eleven-year old (21 boys and 24 girls). Other fundamental motor skills were measured with SLOFIT motor assessment tools, which regularly and systematically monitor the physical fitness of children and adolescents for more than 30 years and with more than one million individuals and their measurement sets till now.
Our results showed the high intrarater reliability and the of some balance tests (Flamingo test, one-leg stance on the low beam and walking test on low-beam) but not also the construct validity. Correlations coefficients between balance and fundamental motor skill performance were examined. We found significant associations between Flamingo test and coordination (r = ,521, p < ,01), explosive muscle power (r = - ,392), flexed arm hang (r = - ,535, p < ,01), abdominal strength (r = ,420), speed (r = ,374, p < ,01) and endurance (r = ,400, p < ,01). Dynamic balance ability was significantly related to coordination (r = - ,424, p < ,01), explosive muscle power (r = - ,466, p < ,01) and flexed arm hang (r = - ,248, p < ,01). Triceps skin fold was associated with Flamingo test (r = ,579, p < ,01). We also found some significant differences in balance abilities between gender. Girls achieved better results in laboratory balance tests tandem stance with open and closed eyes and one-leg stance on the low beam.
Based on our results, we found that are Flamingo test and walking on low beam the best balance assessment tools because of their proper intrarater reliability. We propose Flamingo test to measure static balance abilities and walking on low beam to measure dynamic balance abilities for further researching of human balance (researching in other age groups). Both tests are suitable for primary school population, have widespread use and are also easy to apply and affordable.
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