Aim: To investigate the concurrent validity and reliability of the WBB for balance assessment in healthy young adults.
Methods: Thirty-two young adults participated in this study. Their ability to balance was tested while standing on a WBB and a laboratory-grade force platform, under three conditions: feet together with eyes open, feet together with eyes closed and semi-tandem standing with eyes open. They had 10 min resting period between tests. The agreement between the WBB and the laboratory-grade force platform was investigated, and the reliability of the WBB was determined.
Results: A poor agreement between the WBB and the laboratory-grade force platform was found for all standing conditions [intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.03 to 0.07]. A moderate to high reliability was found for the WBB for balance assessment in healthy young adults (ICC = 0.66 to 0.76).
Conclusion: The WBB was found to be a reliable tool for static balance assessment in healthy young adults. However, it had poor validity compared to the laboratory-grade force platform.
METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional two-phase study was carried out to develop the scale. In phase 1, a preliminary parent-report measure questionnaire was developed in Bahasa Malaysia. Later, it was sent to four experts for content validity followed by face validity. In Phase 2, a total of 386 parents of pre-school children aged 4 to 6 years old, split into two samples, were involved in the field study for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).
RESULT: Sample 1 was used to perform EFA to determine the factorial structure of the SDS. All items with a factor loading of >0.4 were included. Sample 2 was used to perform the CFA. RMSEA and CFI analysis showed that the SDS has a good fit and confirms the dimensional structure found via EFA. The final questionnaire consists of 15 items with a 4 factors' structure and has excellent internal consistency reliability.
CONCLUSIONS: The Screen Dependency Scale (SDS) is a reliable and valid questionnaire to detect screen dependency among pre-school children aged 4 to 6 years old in Malaysia.
METHODS: The English DC/TMD was translated into the Malay language using the forward-backward translation procedures specified in the INfORM guideline. The initial Malay instrument was pre-tested, and any discrepancies were identified and reconciled before producing the final Malay DC/TMD. Psychometric properties of the M-GCPS and M-JFLS were evaluated using a convenience sample of 252 subjects and were assessed using internal consistency and test-retest reliability, as well as face, content, concurrent, and construct validity testing. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha, while test-retest reliability was examined using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Concurrent and construct validity of both domains were performed using Spearman ρ correlation test. In addition, construct and discriminant validity were appraised using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests, respectively.
RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha values for the M-GCPS and M-JFLS were 0.95 and 0.97, respectively. The ICC was 0.98 for the M-GCPS and 0.99 for M-JFLS. The majority of the tested associations for both domains were found to be statistically significant, with good positive correlations.
CONCLUSION: The M-GCPS and M-JFLS were found to be reproducible and valid. The Malay DC/TMD shows potential for use among Malay-speaking adults.