Objective postural measures obtained from motion capture and posturography in PwMS have demonstrated fair to excellent validity and reliability in previous studies. Unfortunately, many of these scales are limited in their ability to accurately monitor progression of disease or intervention efficacy due to inherent subjectivity, lack of sensitivity in differentiating between groups, and poor reliability. Unfortunately, the diverse symptomology of MS and the lack of quantitative clinical assessments of walking and balance often make it difficult to clinically assess fall risk status of PwMS.Ĭurrent clinical assessments for walking and balance difficulties in MS include measures of gait speed based on clinical tests such as the Timed Up and Go or 25 ft walk and relatively subjective measures of balance such as the Berg Balance Test. Persons with MS (PwMS) often report difficulty in walking or standing, with up to 63% of PwMS reporting at least one fall within a 2 to 6 month period. Symptoms of MS often include mild to severe dysfunction of motor and cognitive faculties such as muscle weakness, spasms, tremors, stiffness, fatigue, deficits in attention and executive functions, and loss of coordination and impaired balance. It is estimated that MS affects around 350,000 patients in the United States and more than 2.3 million people worldwide. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease which disrupts the myelin sheath surrounding neurons within the central nervous system. A subset of the most reliable measures is recommended for measuring walking and balance in clinical settings. Measures from the instrumented standing balance and instrumented TUG tests exhibit good to excellent reliability, demonstrating their potential as objective assessments for clinical trials. There were no correlations between self-report walking and balance scores and instrumented TUG or instrumented standing balance metrics, but there were correlations between instrumented TUG and instrumented standing balance metrics and fall history and clinical disability status. All instrumented TUG measures exhibited good to excellent (ICCs > 0.60) test-retest reliability in PwMS and in HC. Resultsįor both groups, ICCs for instrumented standing balance measures were best for spatio-temporal measures, while frequency measures were less reliable. Correlations were evaluated between the instrumented standing balance and instrumented TUG measures and self-reported walking and balance performance, fall history, and clinical disability. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated to determine test-retest reliability of all instrumented standing balance and instrumented TUG measures. Ten instrumented standing balance measures and 18 instrumented TUG measures were computed from the wireless sensor data. Methodsįifteen PwMS and 15 healthy control subjects (HC) performed an instrumented standing balance and instrumented Timed Up and Go (TUG) test on two separate days. The current study determined the test-retest reliability of wireless inertial sensor measures obtained during an instrumented standing balance test and an instrumented Timed Up and Go test in PwMS. Wireless inertial sensors can accurately measure numerous walking and balance parameters but these measures require evaluation of reliability in PwMS. There is a need for objective movement assessment for clinical research trials aimed at improving gait and balance in persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |