Reliability of a Modified Version of the Dynamic Gait Index ‐ A Pilot Study

Purpose: The Dynamic Gait Index (DGI) is a functional balance assessment that has been described in literature and used in clinical practice. Few reliability studies exist; of those completed, variable inter‐rater and intrarater reliability have been reported. We examined the reliability of a modified version of the DGI. Subjects: Three older adults with a history of balance problems (age range = 76‐83 years) were rated by 7 therapists. Methods: The original DGI was revised to make the individual item scoring scales mutually exclusive and exhaustive. Subjects were videotaped while performing various tasks included in the DGI. Seven therapists rated each subject's performance using the revised DGI rating scales. A second session was conducted 5 days later to determine intrarater reliability. Data were analyzed using the Kappa statistic and percent agreement. Results: Intrarater reliability for individual raters ranged from moderate (k = 0.42, 75% agreement) to excellent (k = 0.95, 96% agreement). Inter‐rater reliability for individual DGI tasks ranged from poor (k = 0.0, 65% agreement) to excellent (k = 1.0, 95% agreement). Discussion and Conclusion: Results of this pilot study suggest that most items of this modified version of the DGI are reliable, but further refinement of portions of the rating scales is recommended before field testing is used to determine if this version of the DGI can identify patients who are at risk for falling.