Reliability and validity of a clinical test of reaction time in older adults.
OBJECTIVE
Reaction time is an important indicator of neuromuscular status in older adults. A simple, portable, and inexpensive method of measuring reaction time is needed for use in geriatric clinical settings. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the response speed subtest of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOT) as an indicator of reaction time in older adults.


METHODS
A volunteer sample of 30 community-dwelling men and women over the age of 65 years performed the response speed subtest of the BOT and an electronic reaction time test during a single test session. Statistical analyses included calculation of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for reliability testing and the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (r) for validity testing.


RESULTS
Intertester reliability for the BOT response speed subtest using either mean or median scores for 7 test trials for each subject was ICC[2,1] = 0.99. Test-retest reliability for the BOT was ICC [2,1] = 0.53 using mean scores and ICC[2,1] = 0.65 using median scores. Mean scores from both the first and second administrations of the BOT subtest were correlated with electronic reaction time test scores (r = -0.41 and r = -0.45, respectively; P < .05). Scores improved significantly from the first to the second test administration.


CONCLUSIONS
Although intertester reliability was excellent, test-retest reliability for the BOT response speed subtest was not in an acceptable range for this sample of community-dwelling older adults. Further study of optimal methods of administration is needed to develop this measure for use in screening and examination of older adults.
Center for Human Movement Science, Division of Physical Therapy, Department of Allied Health Sciences, CB# 7135, Bondurant Hall Suite 3022, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7135, USA. vmercer@med.unc.edu
Vicki S
VS
Mercer
Carla C
CC
Hankins
Andrea J
AJ
Spinks
Donna D
DD
Tedder
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D009657:North Carolina; D015588:Observer Variation; D011930:Reaction Time; D015203:Reproducibility of Results