Background:
Force plates are frequently used for postural control assessments but they are expensive andnot widely available in most clinical settings. Increasingly, clinicians are using thistechnology to assess patients, however, the psychometric properties of these lesssophisticated force plates is frequently unknown. The purposes of the study were to examinethe test-retest reliability of a force plate commonly used by clinicians and to explore theeffect of using the mean value from multiple repetitions on reliability.
Methods:
Thirty healthy volunteer adults were recruited. Postural control measures were obtained usingthe Midot Posture Scale Analyzer (MPSA). Data were collected in 2 sessions. Fivesuccessive repetitions each of 60 seconds duration were obtained from each participant ineach session.
Results:
The reliability coefficients obtained using single measures were low (ICC3,1 = 0.06 to 0.53).The average of two measures allowed for reliable measurements of COP mean velocity andaverage location of COP. The average of three and five measures was required to obtainacceptable reliability (ICC [greater than or equal to] 0.70) of relative weight bearing on legs and sway area,respectively. Higher measurement precision values were seen by averaging four or fiverepetitions for all variables.
Conclusion:
Single measures did not provide reliable estimates of postural sway, and the averaging ofmultiple repetitions was necessary to achieve acceptable levels of measurement error. Thenumber of repetitions required to achieve reliable data ranged from 2 to 5. Clinicians shouldbe wary of using single measures derived from similar equipment when making decisionsabout patients.
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