S3-Check--evaluation and generation of normal values of a test for balance ability and postural stability

Balance is very important in daily living, but there are practically no balance evaluation methods which fulfill scientific criteria and are available to the fitness community and other groups. The aims of this paper are to determine if the MFT-S3-Check, a system to measure balance, is scientifically objective, valid and reliable; and to establish norms for the MFT S 3-Check system. Reliability was evaluated with 30 subjects in two testing sessions on two different days. Objectivity was determined by having two different test administrators test 10 subjects. Norms were generated from the data of over 5000 subjects (8 - 70 years of age). Validity was checked by comparing norms to data collected from 758 tests performed on ski racers (10 - 18 years of age). The objectivity and reliability tests for the sensor motor and stability indexes produced correlations which were moderate to very high. Norms were created for all age groups (female, male). The ski racers had significantly better values than the norms. The MFT S 3-Check fulfills the scientific criteria and is in use in fitness settings and in physiotherapy.