Abstract
Context: The Nintendo Wii Balance Board (WBB) has been used in clinics as an intervention tool for patients with balance disorders. The prevalence of the WBB is due to its low-cost and high engagement rates among patients. There are some studies that have evaluated the usefulness of the WBB as an assessment tool for balance. This study aims to provide substantial evidence regarding the validity of the WBB for assessing balance. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity of the WBB to assess balance by comparing it to a laboratory force platform. Design: Quantitative non-experimental criterion validity design Setting: FGCU Neuromuscular Laboratory Participants: Seventeen healthy male (n = 8) and female (n=9) subjects between the ages of 21 – 35 years (x̅ = 26 4 yrs) were recruited from the Florida Gulf Coast University College of Health Professions and Social Work. Measures: Subjects complete 6 balance tests on a WBB and laboratory force platform concurrently. Center of pressure (COP) path lengths were extracted from the two devices for analysis to determine whether or not a relationship existed. Results: The results indicated that there was a significant correlation between the WBB and the laboratory force platform COP path lengths (r.8). However, ICCs for bilateral stance were very low (0.127 and 0.441). Both the correlation coefficients and the ICCs were strong for single limb stance tasks, where COP path lengths tended to be longer. Conclusion: The WBB was found to have excellent correlation with the laboratory force platform but did not show significant agreement when COP path lengths were smaller. This indicates that WBB would be appropriate for detecting large deviations in COP but would be less appropriate for detecting smaller deviations in COP.