Article

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the intra- and inter-session
reliability of a newly developed portable electronic balance measurement system
(Clever Balance Board; CBB).
In the first experiment, 36 male athletes performed
three trials of the Sharpened-Romberg test, single limb stance test, and the CBB
test in a randomized order. In the second experiment, eight physically active men
and 12 women performed the CBB test in two sessions separated by 48 h. The first
experiment revealed a large trial-to-trial improvement for the Sharpened-Romberg
test (46%) and single limb stance test (21%), while the same effect was
relatively small for the three CBB scores (5-7%). The second experiment revealed
a minimal improvement in the CBB scores between two sessions (0.6-2.3%). The
observed intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and coefficients of variation
(CV) suggested an acceptable retest correlation (ICC = 0.85 and 0.76), but very
large within-individual variation (CV = 42.1% and 45.7%) of the Sharpened-Romberg
test and the single limb stance test. Regarding the CBB scores, the corresponding
retest correlation coefficients and within-individual variations were ICC =
0.90-0.96 and CV = 6.9-16.2%, respectively. Finally, inter-session reliability
coefficients proved that the CBB scores had high retest correlation and an
acceptable within-individual variation (ICC = 0.77-0.90 and CV = 8.4-13.9%).
These results generally suggest that the CBB could be a reliable tool for dynamic
balance assessment in healthy and physically active individuals.
CI - Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS