title: Novel Use of the Nintendo Wii Board for Measuring Isometric Lower Limb Strength: A Reproducible and Valid Method in Older Adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Portable, low-cost, objective and reproducible assessment of muscle strength in the lower limbs is important as it allows clinicians to precisly track progression of patients undergoing rehabilitation. The Nintendo Wii Balance Board (WBB) is portable, inexpensive, durable, available worldwide, and may serve the above function.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the study was to evaluate (1) reproducibility and (2) concurrent validity of the WBB for measuring isometric muscle strength in the lower limb.
  
  
  METHODS
  A custom hardware and software was developed to utilize the WBB for assessment of isometric muscle strength. Thirty older adults (69.0 ± 4.2 years of age) were studied on two separate occasions on both the WBB and a stationary isometric dynamometer (SID). On each occasion, three recordings were obtained from each device. For the first recording, means and maximum values were used for further analysis. The test-retest reproducibility was examined using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), Standard Error of Measurement (SEM), and limits of agreement (LOA). Bland-Altman plots (BAP) and ICC's were used to explore concurrent validity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No systematic difference between test-retest was detected for the WBB. ICC within-device were between 0.90 and 0.96 and between-devices were from 0.80 to 0.84. SEM ranged for the WBB from 9.7 to 13.9%, and for the SID from 11.9 to 13.1%. LOA ranged for the WBB from 20.3 to 28.7% and for the SID from 24.2 to 26.6%. The BAP showed no relationship between the difference and the mean.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A high relative and an acceptable absolute reproducibility combined with a good validity was found for the novel method using the WBB for measuring isometric lower limb strength in older adults. Further research using the WBB for assessing lower limb strength should be conducted in different study-populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gronbech Jorgensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark; Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Stig
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark; Institute of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jesper
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ryg
authors.affiliation: Health care for Older People, Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust, Nottingham, Notts, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Tahir
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Masud
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D035002:Lower Extremity / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012984:Software; D018910:Video Games