A comparison between the shoulder shifting test and seated reaching test by bland-altman plot: A pilot study

Area of Science:

• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Neuroscience
• Biomechanics

Background:

• The Seated Reach Test (SRT) assesses sitting balance in spinal cord injury (SCI) patients.
• The Shoulder Shifting Test (SST) was developed to measure reaching distance in individuals with limited arm mobility, such as those with tetraplegia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the agreement between the SST and SRT.
• To determine the clinical utility and usefulness of the SST for SCI patients.

Main Methods:

• Sixteen SCI subjects performed both SST and SRT.
• Correlation coefficients, Bland-Altman analysis, and relative error (RE) were used to assess test agreement.
• SST usefulness was evaluated by comparing performance rates with the SRT in a larger cohort.

Main Results:

• Strong correlation was found between SST and SRT.
• No systematic errors were detected between the two tests.
• Over 75% of subjects showed RE <20% in all directions, indicating good compatibility.

Conclusions:

• The SST is compatible with the SRT for assessing sitting balance in SCI.
• Combining SST and SRT enhances the ability to evaluate sitting balance in a broader range of SCI individuals.