Reliability of Dynamic Posturography with Unstable Platform to Evaluate Seated Postural Control

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To examine the repeatability and the reproducibility of a new evaluation system for seated postural control. METHOD: A total of 30 healthy volunteers (12 male, 18 female, mean age 25.1+/-3.4) participated in this study 15 for repeatability and 15 for reproducibility study. We invented a new device for the assessment of seated postural control. The device was consisted of unstable platform, force plate, frame, safety harness, monitor and computer. Force plate on unstable platform measured the center of pressure (COP) of subject. COP maintaining time, COP moving time and COP sine curve trace were recorded. Each subject was tested three times with an interval of 3 days between the test sessions. The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between male and female in each parameter. There were no significant differences in COP maintaining time, COP moving time and COP sine curve trace when tested repetitively. ICC for both the repeatability and the reproducibility showed good to excellent reliability for all variables (ICC, 0.60~0.99) except posterior and right-posterior moving time. CONCLUSION: This newly designed system for seated postural control using unstable platform proved to be a reliable tool. It may be a useful method to assess the seated postural control.