Is it possible to shorten examination time in posture control studies?

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Neuroscience
• Clinical Assessment

Background:

• The Sensory Organization Test (SOT) is a standard method for assessing postural control using posturographic platforms.
• Typically, three SOT condition recordings are averaged to determine postural control, which is time-consuming.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if a single SOT recording per condition yields comparable information to the current three-recording average.
• To evaluate the potential for reducing testing time without compromising data quality.

Main Methods:

• 100 healthy participants completed the SOT on the Smart Balance Master® Neurocom platform.
• Statistical analysis involved Wilcoxon and dependent t-student tests to compare single/multiple recordings against the three-record average.

Main Results:

• Significant differences were found when comparing the first recording to the three-record average across four conditions (P<.05).
• Comparing the first and second recordings also showed significant differences in four conditions (P<.05).
• Averaging the first two recordings still resulted in significant differences compared to the three-record average for four conditions (P<.05).

Conclusions:

• A single SOT recording is insufficient to replace the information obtained from the traditional three-record average.
• Reducing SOT recordings to one or two per condition may compromise the reliability of postural control assessment.