Validation of the Timed Up and Go Test for Assessing Balance Variables in Adults Aged 65 and Older.

The Timed Up and Go (TUG) test is recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an easy to administer clinical test to evaluate a senior citizen's fall risk. Limited evidence has been presented in the literature validating the TUG test. In this study, the authors sought to assess correlations between the TUG test and various balance markers utilizing the OptoGait system. A total of 51 healthy seniors completed randomized trials of the TUG test and a gait test utilizing OptoGait photoelectric technology. Correlations among mean and SD values for these variables and TUG performance were calculated. Utilizing a Bonferroni adjustment and an alpha level of .05, eight significant correlations of a moderately strong degree (absolute r scores between .51 and .78) emerged. Correlation results indicate that the TUG test is a valid tool for screening balance deficits that lead to increased fall risk in senior citizens.

PACER Performance of Children Aged 11-14 With Attention-Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to examine the performance on the progressive aerobic cardiovascular endurance run (PACER) test in children with and without attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) over the course of a school year, and also to investigate the possible influence of age, sex, school sport participation, and body mass index on results. METHODS: Utilizing a repeated measures design, 892 middle school children aged 11-14 years (mean = 12.25, SD = 0.94) including 55 children with ADHD participated. While controlling for age, sex, sports participation, and body mass index, children were tested on the PACER 3 times during the school year. Procedures specified in the FITNESSGRAM test manual were explicitly followed. Hierarchical linear modeling was applied to analyze the data. RESULTS: Children with ADHD performed 8.6 fewer laps at intercept (baseline), than did healthy children without ADHD (t878 = -6.20, P < .001). However, no significant differences emerged for time (slope). In addition, no significant interactions were found for ADHD with age, sex, sports participation, or body mass index. CONCLUSION: A diagnosis of ADHD, independent of selected predictor variables, explained lower PACER performance.

Validation of the OptoGait System for Monitoring Treatment and Recovery of Post-Concussion Athletes.

OBJECTIVE: This study sought to investigate correlations between OptoGait motion analysis technology and 2 commonly used concussion assessment instruments, the Balance Evaluation Scoring System (BESS) and the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) computerized neurocognitive assessment software, to see if OptoGait might be a valid concussion assessment tool. METHODS: Twenty Division-1 college women varsity soccer players completed trials of 8 different conditions of the OptoGait test battery. Then participants completed the BESS and ImPACT tests. One hundred twenty-eight total spatiotemporal variables were recorded for each trial of OptoGait. Pearson's r correlations among these variables and BESS and ImPACT results were calculated, and pattern analysis was completed to evaluate for emergent patterns in the data. RESULTS: Correlations for the 8 OptoGait mean-score subtests were related to the balance double-leg foam test (BESS). Correlations for the 8 OptoGait mean-score subtests were related to the balance double-leg foam test (BESS), and correlations between OptoGait standard deviation measures and the balance tandem hard surface test (BESS) both indicated potentially significant patterns. No consistent patterns of correlation existed between the OptoGait variables and the ImPACT results. CONCLUSION: OptoGait conditions correlate at higher than predicted rates with subtests of the BESS instruments but not the ImPACT measures.