Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 24, 2025
Computerized Dynamic Posturography for Postural Control Assessment in Patients with Intermittent Claudication
Published on: December 11, 2013
Validity and reliability of a smartphone-based assessment for anticipatory and compensatory postural adjustments
Manuela Brito Duarte1, Anderson Antunes da Costa Moraes1, Eduardo Veloso Ferreira1
1Laboratório de Estudos da Motricidade Humana, Av. Generalíssimo deodoro 01, Belém 66073-00, PA, Brazil.
Background:
Postural adjustments involve displacements of the center of mass (COM), controlled by the central nervous system (CNS), to maintain equilibrium whilst standing. Postural adjustments can be anticipatory (APAs) or compensatory (CPAs), and are triggered to counteract predictable perturbations.
Research Question:
Is the new smartphone application, Momentum, a valid and reliable tool for the assessment of body balance, by measuring APAs and CPAs using accelerometer readings?
Methods:
20 young adults were exposed to external predictable perturbations induced at the shoulder level, whilst standing. COM linear acceleration was recorded by Momentum (extracting data from a smartphone's accelerometer) and a 3D motion capture system.
Results:
The key results demonstrated a very high, significant correlation (r ≥ 0.7, p < 0.05) between the two device settings in the APA parameters, which obtained r = 0.65, denoting a high correlation. Considering the reliability, variables that are compensatory in nature are presented on a scale of good to excellent in measurement methods, kinematics, and Momentum. However, the anticipatory variables presented excellent reliability only for the kinematics.
Significance:
These experiments show that Momentum is a valid method for measuring COM acceleration under predictable perturbations and is reliable for compensatory events.
