INTRODUCTION: A new device for assessing and training dynamic balance, the TOBtrainerMR, has been recently developed. OBJECTIVE: To asses the inter-session reliability of balance assessment using the TOBtrainerMR. The study has also the purpose of giving error scores so that true changes in performance can be identified. METHODS: Thirty healthy sedentary subjects (nine males, 21 females, age = 27.9 ± 2.9 years) participated in this study. The TOBtrainerMR was used to assess balance in the medial-lateral plane with eyes open (MLEO) and with eyes closed (MLEC), and in the anterior-posterior plane with eyes open (APEO) and with eyes closed (APEC). Subjects were instructed to be in a double-limb standing position with the hands at their sides trying to maintain platform stability. All the data were registered with the TOBT software. RESULTS: The samples were correlated, t-Tests assessed, learning effects and Intraclass Correlation Coefficients assessed in their reliability. Standard Errors of Measurement and Smallest Detectable Differences were calculated to assess measurement error. No significant differences between the first and the second session measurements were found. The Intraclass Correlation Coefficients, the Standard Errors of Measurement and the Smallest Detectable Differences for the four modalities measured ranged from 0.71 to 0.83, 0.32º to 0.80º and 0.90º to 2.22º, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Inter-session reliability for balance assessment using the TOBtrainerMR was good. Future researchers have now reference data to evaluate whether differences in two different scores are real or due to measurement error and what changes are needed in a subject's score to be sure that a real change has occurred.
balance; postural control; Intraclass Correlation Coefficient
