Research Report Abstracts - Gesundheit

WPT2011, Research Report Abstracts eS1193
Participants: Subjects included 52 patients with hemiplegia
(32 men and 20 women; mean age, 68.9 ± 13.1 years;
mean height, 159.4 ± 10.7 cm; mean weight, 58.2 ± 11.8 kg).
Twenty-four had left hemiplegia and 28 had right hemiplegia.
The mean time since stroke was 83.3 days.
Methods: The SBT, including its subtests, was used to
measure static balance. Performance was evaluated using a
4-point ordinal scale (graded 1–4, with lower scores representing
worse performance) for five subtests: sitting, stride
standing, close standing, one foot standing on the nonparalyzed
leg, and one foot standing on the paralyzed leg.
The total SBT score ranged from 5 to 20 points. In addition,
a 10-meter walking test was performed, and the ability of
the SBT to predict dynamic balance was assessed. To verify
inter-tester reliability, five additional examiners assessed
balance performance using recorded video clips of the same
subjects.
Analysis: The number of patients with hemiplegia that
met the criteria for static balance scale was used to determine
whether there were relationships between SBT subtest
and the score on the subtest. Cronbach’s coefficient alpha
was used to determine whether there were relationships
between SBT total score and subtest scores. Spearman’s
correlation coefficient was used to determine whether there
were relationships between SBT total score and gait performance
(velocity, stride length, stride frequency). Intraclass
correlation coefficients were used to determine inter-tester
reliability. P values >0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Results: For the posture maintenance task, the number of
patients with hemiplegia that met the criteria for static balance
scale decreased as posture became increasingly unstable. In
addition, according to scores on the 4-point ordinal scale,
the number of patients with hemiplegia that met the criteria
for static balance scale decreased as the level of difficulty
increased. The alpha coefficient showed that the internal consistency
of the SBT was 0.88. Static balance using the SBT
total score as an index contributed to 56–67% of gait performance.
The intraclass correlation among examiners was 0.92
(95% confidence interval: 0.87–0.95), and the reproducibility
of the assessment standards for balance performance was
favorable.
Conclusions: The SBT had validity for posture and performance
grade, and a hierarchy structure was shown for both
measurements. A structured order was shown in the degree
of difficulty of the hierarchy structure for each posture and
grade of the SBT. In addition, the SBT appears to predict
dynamic balance with high precision. Furthermore, favorable
inter-tester reliability was observed.
Implications: These results suggest that the SBT is a clinically
useful test for assessing balance performance in patients
with hemiplegia.
Keywords: Hemiplegic patients; Balance; Assessment
Funding acknowledgements: This study was unfunded.
Ethics approval: This study required the approval of the
ethics committee by Tohoku Bunka Gakuen University.
Research Report Poster Display
Number: RR-PO-308-16-Thu Thursday 23 June 12:00
RAI: Exhibit Halls2&3
VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY FOR EVALUATION
OF POSTURE USING A DIGITAL GONIO-METER
Suzuki Y. 1 , Mizuno K. 1 , Kamide N. 2 , Hiraga Y. 1 ,
Takahashi K. 1 , Fukuda M. 1,2
1Kitasato University East Hospital, Rehabilitation, Sagamihara,
Japan, 2Kitasato University, Allied Health Sciences,
Sagamihara, Japan
Purpose: Recently, new instrument with a digital goniometer
was developed to evaluate severe defective posture in
people with cerebral palsy. However, when that instrument is
applied to slightly defective posture in people with low back
pain (LBP), reliability and validity have been unclear. The
purpose of this study was to test intra-rater reliability, interrater
reliability and validity of the digital gonio-meter with
healthy adults.
Relevance: LBP is one of the common complaints in all age
range and in variety of diseases. There are thought to be various
causes of LBP, and slightly to mild defective posture
is one of them. However, popular methods of posture evaluation
such as visual observation and image analysis with
digital camera have low reliability or time consuming to be
used in a clinical setting. This study would give evidence to
the new clinical evaluation method of which physiotherapists
can use to measure slightly defective posture.
Participants: Ten subjects without low back pain (5 females,
age 36.8 ± 9.0 years and 5 men, age 29.0 ± 4.2 years) volunteered
to participate in this study.
Methods: Trunk and pelvis inclination angles were measured
using a digital gonio-meter (Yuki Trading, Inc.) and
image analysis software (NIH). Digital gonio-meter has
2 arms to indicate anatomical landmarks, able to display
minimum angle value as small as 1 ◦ , and able to
capture forward and lateral bending angle of trunk, and
anterior and lateral inclination angle of pelvis. To test
intra-rater reliability, rater A evaluated 10 subjects with
the digital angle meter. Measurements were taken in 5
standing positions: relaxed standing, forward-bending position,
backward-bending position, right-bending position, and
left-bending position. Simulated defective standing positions
(forward-bending position, backward-bending position,
right-bending position, left-bending position) were evaluated
to confirm the applicable position at the same time. Each position
was measured three times by rater A. To test inter-rater
reliability, three raters (A, B, C) participated in this study.
Relaxed standing positions of five subjects were measured