Peer Exercise Leaders Can Accurately and Reliably Rate Intensity of Older Adult Exercisers With the Balance Intensity Scale: A Prospective Cohort Study.
Kathryn M Sibley, Emily Zacharias, Danielle R Bouchard and 1 others
PMID 42326582WHAT IT FOUND
Volunteer peer exercise leaders judged older adults' balance exercise intensity almost as closely as an expert, and agreed with each other closely, after one 90-minute online session.
Two weeks later their ratings had drifted lower and were less accurate but their confidence had not dropped.
Key findings
01Peer leaders' ratings were within 1 point of an expert's for 97% of videos two days after training and 90% two weeks later.
02Agreement between leaders was excellent in both rating sessions, and each leader's own ratings were consistent across the two weeks (mean ICC 0.926, range 0.744 to 0.986).
03Ratings were the same as or lower than the expert's for every video in both sessions, and confidence in using the scale stayed at 6 out of 7 at all three time points.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 14 leaders took part, all were White women aged 55 or over, and they came from just two Canadian programs, so the results may not hold for other leaders, other settings or other countries. Leaders scored videos rather than people in front of them. They could rewatch a clip, which is not possible in a live class, but they also saw only what the camera showed, while the expert rated in person at the time of filming. Accuracy fell between the first and second rating sessions, and ratings ran lower than the expert's throughout, so agreement may weaken further beyond the two weeks tested. Only eight videos were rated, and all comparisons were against one expert's ratings rather than a panel.
Declared interests
The investigators declared no financial or nonfinancial disclosures in relation to this project. The supplied text does not name a funder.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that volunteer peer leaders can now rate balance intensity in live classes on their own. They scored videos, not people in front of them, with only eight clips, and their scores were compared against one expert who rated in person while filming. Their accuracy also fell from 97% to 90% between the two sessions and their ratings ran lower than the expert's throughout, while their confidence stayed at 6 out of 7, so a leader drifting is unlikely to notice it.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →