title: Reliability of the manual dynamic mode of the Baltimore Therapeutic Equipment Work Simulator.
abstract: Twelve Baltimore Therapeutic Equipment Work Simulators (BTEWS) were tested for consistency of resistance in the manual dynamic mode using a previously described timed weight-drop test. Fifty weight-drop measurements were made at five different weight levels: 5, 10, 20, 30, and 40 lb. Alterations in weight-drop times indicate changes in exercise-head resistance. Substantial resistance variation was found in the manual dynamic mode. With console resistance set consistently at 92% of applied weight, weight-drop times varied from failures of the weight to drop to times that were not recognized by the electronic timing system. Measurable weight-drop times ranged from 0.75 to 16.97 seconds. Ten Simulators had weight-drop times greater than +/-3 standard deviations (SD) from the mean; eight Simulators had times +/-4 SD from the mean; and four had times +/-5 SD from the mean. Console printout data did not accurately reflect resistance produced by the exercise head. While intermachine correlations based on Simulator printout data ranged from +1.0 to +0.9906, correlations derived from resistance-based weight-drop times ranged from +0.9866 to -0.9956. For a constant externally applied torque, the weight-drop times should have been constant but were not. Resistance produced in the manual dynamic mode is inconsistent, both within and between machines (p = 0.0001).
authors.affiliation: Spartan Motors, Inc. Charlotte, Michigan, USA.
authors.forename: E F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Coleman
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Renfro
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Cetinok
authors.forename: E E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Fess
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Shaar
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Dunipace
mesh_terms: D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013223:Statistics as Topic