The Validity And Reliability Of Swaymeter In Assessing Postural Sway Among Neurologic Patient Population – A Preliminary Study

Background: The delay or malfunction of any of the neuromuscular systems for postural control leads to a spontaneous oscillation of the center of mass within the position maintained by the individual, resulting in postural sway. Force-plates and dynamic posturography are been widely used in clinical settings to analyze the postural sway. Swaymeter is found to be a cost-effective and easy tool to analyze the postural sway in neurologic patients. This study identified the test-retest reliability of Swaymeter and its concurrent validity with the Multi-Directional Reach Test. Methods: Thirty patients with age ranged from 19 to 79 (19 males and 11 females) and those who can maintain one minute independent standing were assessed using Swaymeter thrice with 10 minutes rest between the tests. MDRT measurements were also assessed within these individuals. The test-retest reliability was identified using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and the concurrent validity with MDRT using Pearson Correlation. Results: We identified a moderate test-retest reliability in Swaymeter (0.602-0.757) in all directions, with the right side showing moderate to good reliability with ICC of 0.757. The analysis shows a positive correlation between Swaymeter values and MDRT values, with posterior direction showing a moderate positive significant correlation (+0.463, p<0.05). Conclusion: The moderate to good reliability of Swaymeter makes it an effective tool in the clinical and rehabilitation settings for the benefit of the patients. The performance of static balance tests cannot be compared with that of dynamic balance, and therefore must be assessed separately in patients.