title: Intrarater reproducibility and validity of Nintendo Wii balance testing in community-dwelling older adults.
abstract: The aims of the current study were to examine the intrarater intersession reproducibility of the Nintendo Wii agility and stillness tests and explore the concurrent validity in relation to gold-standard force-plate analysis. Within-day intersession reproducibility was examined in 30 older adults (age 71.8 ± 5.1 yr). No systematic test-retest differences were found for the Wii stillness test; however, the Wii agility test scores differed systematically between test sessions (p < .05). The Wii stillness test yielded a test-retest ICC of .86 (95% CI 0.74-0.93), CV of 6.4%, LOA of 11.0, and LOA% of 17.9%. Likewise for the Wii agility test ICC was .73 (95% CI 0.50-0.86), CV 5.3%, LOA 1.8, and LOA% of 14.6%. Wii stillness scores correlated to force plate measures (r = .65-.82, p < .01), reflecting moderate to excellent validity. In conclusion, it appears that the Wii stillness test represents a low-cost, objective, reproducible, and valid test of undisturbed postural balance in community-dwelling older adults.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Geriatrics, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Martin G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Jørgensen
authors.forename: Uffe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Laessoe
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hendriksen
authors.forename: Ole B F
authors.initials: OB
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Aagaard
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living; D008297:Male; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D057173:Recreation Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013177:Sports / Q000502:physiology; D018910:Video Games / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*