Reliability of a new diamond steps test devised for balance evaluation

[Purpose] A Diamond Steps Test (DST) was devised, and the reliability of the measured values and the number of measurements were examined. [Subjects and Methods] DST entails walking a rhombus (height × 0.5) with constant side lengths and vertices of 60 and 120 degrees. Three measurement methods were examined: number of DS walked in 30 seconds (30DS), time required to walk DS five times (5×DS), and time required for DS walking once on the dominant foot and non-dominant foot sides (LRDS). The subjects were 16 young people. Two examiners A and B were selected. [Results] In all three measurement methods, the ICCs of the two measurements were 0.77 or higher, a significant value. [Conclusion] The three measurement methods have high reliability, but the results suggest the reliabilities of the 5×DS and LRDS are higher.