Citation

Chang JO, Levy SS, Seay SW, Goble DJ. Clin. J. Sport. Med. 2014; 24(3): 256-262.

Affiliation

College of Health and Human Services, School of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, California.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/JSM.0000000000000016

PMID

24284947

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:: Recent guidelines advocate sports medicine professionals to use balance tests to assess sensorimotor status in the management of concussions. The present study sought to determine whether a low-cost balance board could provide a valid, reliable, and objective means of performing this balance testing. DESIGN:: Criterion validity testing relative to a gold standard and 7 day test-retest reliability. SETTING:: University Biomechanics Laboratory. PARTICIPANTS:: Thirty healthy young adults. ASSESSMENT OF RISK FACTORS:: Balance ability was assessed on 2 days separated by 1 week using (1) a gold standard measure (ie, scientific grade force plate), (2) a low-cost Nintendo Wii Balance Board (WBB), and (3) the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:: Validity of the WBB center of pressure path length and BESS scores were determined relative to the force plate data. Test-retest reliability was established based on intraclass correlation coefficients. RESULTS:: Composite scores for the WBB had excellent validity (r = 0.99) and test-retest reliability (R = 0.88). Both the validity (r = 0.10-0.52) and test-retest reliability (r = 0.61-0.78) were lower for the BESS. CONCLUSIONS:: These findings demonstrate that a low-cost balance board can provide improved balance testing accuracy/reliability compared with the BESS. CLINICAL RELEVANCE:: This approach provides a potentially more valid/reliable, yet affordable, means of assessing sports-related concussion compared with current methods.

Language: en