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. 2018 Jul;53(7):636–645. doi: 10.4085/1062-6050-129-17

Table 4.

Age- and Sex-Specific Percentile Scores of the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) Continued on Next Page

Group, y
 Condition
 Sex
 Percentile
2.5
 5
 10
 20
 30
 40
 50
 60
 70
 80
 90
 95
 97.5
Youth (range, 5–9) Total BESSa M 5 7 11 15 17 20 22 24 27 30 34 37 40
F 0 1 3 6 8 10 12 14 15 18 21 23 25
Firm BESSb M 0 1 3 5 6 7 8 10 11 12 14 16 17
F 0 0 0 1 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 9 9
Foam BESSb M 3 5 7 9 11 12 14 15 17 18 21 23 25
F 0 1 3 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 14 15 17
Firm surface
 Double-legged stance M 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
F 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Single-legged stance M 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10 10
F 0 0 0 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 8
 Tandem stance M 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 6 7
F 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 3
Foam surface
 Double-legged stance M 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 3 3
F 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
 Single-legged stance M 3 4 5 6 7 7 8 9 9 10 10 10 10
F 1 2 3 4 5 5 6 6 7 8 9 10 10
 Tandem stance M 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 10 10
F 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 6 7
Youth (range, 10–13) Totala M 3 6 8 11 14 16 17 19 21 23 27 29 31
F 0 2 5 8 10 12 13 15 17 19 22 24 27
Firm BESSb M 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 12
F 0 0 0 1 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 8 9
Foam BESSb M 3 4 6 8 10 11 12 13 14 16 18 20 21
F 0 2 4 6 7 9 10 11 12 14 16 18 19
Firm surface
 Double-legged stance M 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
F 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Single-legged stance M 0 0 1 2 3 3 4 5 5 6 7 8 9
F 0 0 0 1 2 2 3 3 4 5 6 6 7
 Tandem stance M 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 3 4 4 5
F 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 3
Foam surface
 Double-legged stance M 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 3
F 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2
 Single-legged stance M 3 4 4 5 6 7 7 8 9 9 10 10 10
F 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 7 8 9 10 10 10
 Tandem stance M 0 0 1 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
F 0 0 0 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 8
High school (range, 14–18) Total BESSa M 1 3 6 9 11 13 14 16 18 20 23 26 28
F 1 3 5 8 10 12 14 15 17 19 22 24 26
Firm BESSb M 0 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
F 0 0 0 1 2 3 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Foam BESSb M 2 3 5 7 8 9 10 12 13 14 16 18 19
F 2 3 5 7 8 9 10 11 13 14 16 18 19
Firm surface
 Double-legged stance M 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
F 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
 Single-legged stance M 0 0 0 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 8
F 0 0 0 1 1 2 3 3 4 4 5 6 7
 Tandem stance M 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 4
F 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 3 3
Foam surface
 Double-legged stance M 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 2
F 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2
 Single-legged stance M 2 3 4 5 5 6 7 7 8 9 10 10 10
F 2 3 4 5 6 6 7 7 8 9 10 10 10
 Tandem stance M 0 0 0 1 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 8 9
F 0 0 0 1 2 3 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Collegiate (range, 19–23) Total BESSa M 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 14 16 18 20 22 24
F 1 2 5 7 9 11 13 14 16 18 21 23 25
Firm BESSb M 0 0 0 1 2 3 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
F 0 0 0 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Foam BESSb M 1 2 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 15 16 18
F 2 3 4 6 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 18
Firm surface
 Double-legged stance M 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
F 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Single-legged stance M 0 0 0 1 1 2 3 3 4 4 5 6 7
F 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 3 3 4 5 6 6
 Tandem stance M 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 3 3
F 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 3 3
Foam surface
 Double-legged stance M 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1
F 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
 Single-legged stance M 2 2 3 4 5 6 6 7 7 8 9 10 10
F 2 3 4 5 5 6 6 7 8 8 9 10 10
 Tandem stance M 0 0 0 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 8
F 0 0 0 1 2 2 3 4 5 5 7 7 8

Abbreviations: F, female; M, male.

a 

Summed across all 6 conditions.

b 

Summed across the 3 stances in the condition.