Decreased postural stability, often resulting in falls, is a significant problem for older adults. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2000) suggest that gait and balance problems are contributing factors to falls in older adults. Thirty-two percent of community residing older adults fall at least once per year, with serious injuries reported in 24% of those who fall. The purpose of this study was to determine stability and dynamic balance differences between young and older adults. A second purpose was to determine the effectiveness of various measures used to assess dynamic balance and postural stability. Specifically, we were interested in determining if the Biodex Balance System (BBS) is effective for identifying dynamic balance disparities. The participants in this study included 10 older adults (5 males/5 females), aged 65-80 years and 10 young adults (5 males/5 females), aged 21-35 years. Participants provided informed consent prior to participation. The BBS is a multi-axial device that uses a circular platform; overall, anterior/posterior (AP), and medial/lateral (ML) stability during dynamic balance and overall direction control (ODC) during limits of stability were obtained. To measure dynamic balance and stability, participants stood for 30 seconds on the BBS trying to maintain their position in the center of the platform. To obtain ODC, participants shifted weight to move a cursor as quickly as possible between a series of targets. Participants also completed the 8-foot up and go and chair stand. Finally, the maximum step test (MST) was used to measure how far participants were able to step forward, backward and sideways with each leg; the rapid step test (RST) was used to measure the amount of time to complete a series of steps (e.g., right, left, forward, backward). Results indicated that older adults were significantly worse than young adults on balance measures (number of chair stands [14 vs. 21], 8-foot up and go [6.4 vs. 4.7 sec], MST [38 vs. 49 inches], RST [58 vs. 49 sec]), which may indicate impaired balance among older adults. However, no significant differences were found between the younger and older adults on BBS measures (overall, AP, ML stability and ODC). In addition, BBS measures did not correlate with any of the typical measures of balance (which were highly correlated with one another). Additional data should be collected using the BBS to determine if the data is valid and reliable to ensure that the BBS provides effective measures of dynamic balance. Keyword(s): measurement/evaluation, older adult/aging issues, research