Introduction: The effects of the floor and ceiling of the modified Slovenian version of the mini-BESTest for the elderly persons have not been established. The purpose of the present work was to determine whether the modified mini-BESTest displays floor or ceiling effect in the two groups of older adults, and to determine which individual item is most difficult. Methods: 40 community-dwelling elderly and 28 nursing home residents participated in the study. They were assessed with the modified mini-BESTest. Results: In both groups nobody obtained minimum cumulative number of points, the highest possible cumulative number of points was not reached by any nursing home resident, while only 2 participants in the community-dwelling group or 5% obtained maximum number of points. The most demanding task in the nursing home group was one-legged stance, and in the community-dwelling group the timed up and go with cognitive task. Conclusions: The results of modified version of the mini-BESTest has neither a ceiling nor a floor effect in both groups and is suitable for use in different groups of elderly as an outcome measure for balance specific exercise as well as for monitoring changes of balance over time.
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