title: Assessing subacute mild traumatic brain injury with a portable virtual reality balance device.
abstract: Balance impairment is a common sensorimotor symptom in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). We designed an affordable, portable virtual reality (VR)-based balance screening device (Virtual Environment TBI Screen [VETS]), which will be validated relative to the Neurocom Sensory Organization Test (SOT) to determine if it can replace commonly used postural assessments.
  
  
  
  This preliminary study examines healthy adults (n = 56) and adults with mTBI (n = 11). Participants performed six upright postural tasks on the VETS and the SOT. Analysis of variance was used to determine between-group differences. Pearson's correlations were used to establish construct validity. Known-groups approach was used to establish classification accuracy.
  
  
  
  The mTBI cohort performed significantly worse than the healthy cohort on the new device (p = 0.001). The new device has 91.0% accuracy and an ROC curve with a significant area-under-the-curve (AUC = 0.865, p < 0.001). Conditions with dynamic visual stimulation were the most sensitive to health status. The SOT had an 84.8% accuracy and AUC =0.703 (p = 0.034).
  
  
  
  The new VR-based device is a valid measure for detecting balance impairment following mTBI and can potentially replace more expensive and cumbersome equipment. Assessments that test visual-vestibular processing, such as VETS, increase sensitivity to mTBI-related balance deficits, which can be used to guide rehabilitation. Implications for rehabilitation Emerging technology using virtual reality can be economically integrated into the clinical setting for easy testing of postural control in neurologically impaired populations. Tailoring postural assessments to include tasks that rely on visual and vestibular integration will increase the accuracy of detecting balance impairment following mild traumatic brain injury.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Physical Therapy , Temple University , Philadelphia , PA , USA.|e Department of Bioengineering , Temple University , Philadelphia , PA , USA.
authors.forename: W Geoffrey
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.affiliation: b Department of Athletic Training , East Stroudsburg University , East Stroudsburg , PA , USA.|c Department of Kinesiology , Temple University , Philadelphia , PA , USA.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McDevitt
authors.affiliation: c Department of Kinesiology , Temple University , Philadelphia , PA , USA.
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tierney
authors.affiliation: d Department of Kinesiology , University of North Carolina-Greensboro , Greensboro , NC , USA.
authors.forename: F Jay
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Haran
authors.affiliation: a Department of Physical Therapy , Temple University , Philadelphia , PA , USA.
authors.forename: Kwadwo Osei
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Appiah-Kubi
authors.affiliation: e Department of Bioengineering , Temple University , Philadelphia , PA , USA.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dumont
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D004856:Postural Balance; D012372:ROC Curve; D014724:Vestibular Function Tests / Q000379:methods*; D063367:Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Visual-vestibular processing; concussion; posture; sensory organization test; virtual reality