Postural control in standing following stroke: test-retest reliability of some quantitative clinical tests

Despite their importance to stroke rehabilitation, appropriate clinical tests of postural control in standing appear to be inadequately developed. Several quantitative clinical tests, therefore, were constructed. These tests were used to measure functionally relevant aspects of postural control in standing in 24 stroke patients within a mean time interval of two months following a cerebrovascular accident. Subjects were tested in two stance positions (step and parallel) for five tasks that assessed their ability to withstand perturbations produced by self-generated body movements during functional activities. Intrasession reliability coefficients were very high (r = .94-.99). Intersession reliability coefficients were also high (r = .85-.94). Because the test battery requires minimal training and equipment, it can be easily applied in the clinical setting. The high reliability obtained justifies further evaluation of these tests, which appear to be very promising for use in stroke rehabilitation.