Objective: Because the Mini Balance Evaluation Systems Test (Mini-BESTest) is widely used, our aim was to validate the Spanish version in PD.

Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by balance and gait problems. Adequate assessments of balance and gait abilities are important, however, the international validation of rating scales is still challenging.

Method: This study was part of a randomized, longitudinal, case-control clinical trial designed to study fall prevention in PD. We included non-demented patients with idiopathic PD, Hoehn Yahr stage ≤ 3. We assessed gait severity and balance with the Mini-BESTest, the Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (FOG-Q), and the MDS-Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) part III. We analyzed the acceptability, internal consistency, convergent validity, and internal sensitivity to change (SMR) of the Mini-BESTest.

Results: 49 participants were included, 26 males (53.10%) and 23 females (46.90%), mean age of 69.92 ± 9.23. Skewness was adequate and the floor (14.30) and ceiling (2.00) effects were within satisfactory thresholds. Inter-item and item-total correlations were adequate, with a high internal consistency (Cronchach’s alpha = 0.938). Most subdomains and the Mini-BESTest total score were highly correlated (r_S > 0.50) with the FOG-Q score, and the “Balance and gait” subdomain of MDS-UPDRS part III, and moderately (r_S = 0.20-0.50) with the MDS-UPDRS part III. The SMR was moderate (-0.65) in the control group and high (1.15) in the intervention group, with significant intra-group differences.

Conclusion: The Mini-BESTest is an appropriate clinical tool for the assessment of balance and gait in patients with mild to moderate PD.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/a-validation-study-of-the-mini-bestest-in-a-spanish-population-with-parkinsons-disease/