Article

OBJECTIVE: To establish the test-retest reliability of linear and nonlinear
measures, including intra- and intersession reliability, when used to analyze the
center of pressure (COP) time series during the development of infant sitting
postural control in infants with or at risk for cerebral palsy (CP). DESIGN:
Longitudinal study. SETTING: University hospital laboratory. PARTICIPANTS:
Infants with or at risk for CP (N=18; mean age +/- SD at entry into the study,
13.7+/-3.6mo). INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Infant
sitting COP data were recorded for 3 trials at each session (2 sessions for each
month within 1 week) for 4 consecutive months. The linear COP parameters of the
root mean square, the range of sway for both the anterior-posterior and the
medial-lateral directions, and the sway path were calculated. In addition, the
nonlinear parameters of approximate entropy, Lyapunov exponent (LyE), and the
correlation dimension for both directions were also calculated. Intra- and
intersession reliability was computed by the intraclass correlation coefficient
(ICC). RESULTS: Regarding nonlinear measures, LyE showed high intra- and
intersession ICC values in comparison with all other parameters evaluated.
Intrasession and intersession reliability increased overall in the last 2 months
of data collection and as sitting posture improved. CONCLUSIONS: Our results
suggested that the methodology presented is a reliable way of examining the
development of sitting postural control in infants with or at risk for CP, and
the reliability results generally parallel values found in sitting postural
behavior in typical infants. Therefore, this methodology may be helpful in
examining efficacy of therapy protocols directed at advancing sitting postural
control in infants with motor developmental delays.
CI - Copyright (c) 2010 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS