Background: This study aimed to examine: 1) Swaymeter concurrent validity in discriminating between young and older adult populations; 2) Swaymeter convergent validity against a forceplate system; and 3) the immediate test-retest repeatability of postural sway measures obtained from the Swaymeter. Methods. Twenty-nine older adults aged 71 to 83 years and 11 young adults aged 22 to 47 years had postural sway measured simultaneously with the Swaymeter and a forceplate for three repeat 30 second trials, under four conditions (floor eyes open, floor eyes closed, foam eyes open, foam eyes closed). Results: Age-related differences in sway parameters across the four conditions were evident using the Swaymeter. Moderate-to-good correlations were found between Swaymeter and forceplate sway measures across conditions (r = 0.560-0.865). Good agreement between the Swaymeter and forceplate were found for anteroposterior and mediolateral sway displacement measures (average offset = 6 mm). Sway path length measures were longer for the forceplate compared to the Swaymeter (average offset = 376 mm), but these data showed good agreement following log-transformation. The Swaymeter was reliable across trials, with intraclass correlation coefficients ranging from 0.654 to 0.944. Conclusions: The Swaymeter is a reliable tool for assessing postural sway and discriminates between performance of young and older people across multiple sensory conditions. © 2011Sturnieks et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
CITATION STYLE
Sturnieks, D. L., Arnold, R., & Lord, S. R. (2011). Validity and reliability of the Swaymeter device for measuring postural sway. BMC Geriatrics, 11. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2318-11-63
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