History

The original Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS) began as a modification of the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and for a short while was known as the Pediatric Berg. In 1994 as Dr. Franjoine began work on her Master’s thesis under the direction of Dr. Joan Gunther, PT, PhD, the process of modifying the BBS for use with school-age children began. To establish the Pediatric Berg as a reliable and valid measure of functional balance in children, the BBS underwent several key modifications. These modifications included a re-ordering of items, adjustments of scoring criteria and creation of child-friendly instructions, and together were renamed the Pediatric Balance Scale. This modification process and the development of the Pediatric Balance Scale is described in full in the 2003 publication in Pediatric Physical Therapy. It should be noted that other researchers have continued to use the BBS and the Pediatric Berg with children, although the specific nature of these tools and modifications, if any, are unclear in the literature.

In 2003, as early career researchers, Mary Rose and Nancy Darr met to discuss a potential collaboration while attending an NDTA™ Conference. Over the next 20 years Drs. Franjoine and Darr worked collaboratively engaging their entry-level DPT students in ongoing PBS research. Additional information on psychometric properties and age and sex-based performance expectations of the original PBS were published in 2010. In 2012, Drs. Franjoine and Darr were awarded a grant by the American Physical Therapy Association’s Section on Pediatrics to support the ongoing development of the PBS. This grant funded Rasch analyses and led to the development of the second edition of the PBS (PBS-2). We would like to extend a very special thank you to Dr. Everett V. Smith and Dr. Suzann Campbell for their expert guidance in this process.

Work continues on the development and refinement of the PBS-2 to expand its ability to be used in a variety of clinical settings and with wider age and ability levels of children. Publications of the PBS-2 and score conversions from the original PBS to the PBS-2 are pending. We are pleased to share with you our new score conversion calculator. Please refer to our Research Page for a complete list of our PBS and PBS-2 research.

We are pleased to share the PBS-2 with clinicians as a free download for exclusive use in clinical practice. Please refer to the Permissions Page for specific details on allowable PBS-2 usage.

We would appreciate your insights as we continue to refine PBS-2 use for clinical practice and research.