Article

Weight bearing asymmetry is common in patients with unilateral lower limb
musculoskeletal pathologies. The Nintendo Wii Balance Board (WBB) has been
suggested as a low-cost and widely-available tool to measure weight bearing
asymmetry in a clinical environment; however no study has evaluated the validity
of this tool during dynamic tasks. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to
determine the concurrent validity of force measurements acquired from the WBB as
compared to laboratory force plates. Thirty-five individuals before, or within 1
year of total joint arthroplasty performed a sit-to-stand and return-to-sit task
in two conditions. First, subjects performed the task with both feet placed on a
single WBB. Second, the task was repeated with each foot placed on an individual
laboratory force plate. Peak vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) under each
foot and the inter-limb symmetry ratio were calculated. Validity was examined
using Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC), regression analysis, 95% limits
of agreement and Bland-Altman plots. Force plates and the WBB exhibited excellent
agreement for all outcome measurements (ICC=0.83-0.99). Bland-Altman plots showed
no obvious relationship between the difference and the mean for the peak VGRF,
but there was a consistent trend in which VGRF on the unaffected side was lower
and VGRF on the affected side was higher when using the WBB. However, these
consistent biases can be adjusted for by utilizing regression equations that
estimate the force plate values based on the WBB force. The WBB may serve as a
valid, suitable, and low-cost alternative to expensive, laboratory force plates
for measuring weight bearing asymmetry in clinical settings.
CI - Copyright (c) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS