Postural Sway Measurement Using a Body-Worn Movement Sensor in Clinical Stroke Rehabilitation: Exploring Sensitivity to Change and Responsiveness.
Marieke Geerars, Natasja C Wouda, Richard A W Felius and 3 others
PMID 39982424WHAT IT FOUND
Postural sway measured by a body-worn sensor rarely changed during stroke rehabilitation, even when patients improved on standard balance tests.
This sensor does not reliably track clinical progress or distinguish those who improved from those who did not.
Key findings
01Only a small percentage of participants showed genuine improvement in postural sway (3.2% to 23.9%) compared to higher rates of improvement on conventional tests (33.3% to 60.0%).
02The sensor failed to effectively differentiate between participants who experienced improvement and those who did not, with area under the curve scores ranging from .47 to .64.
03Responsiveness of the sensor was rated as poor, with only 15 of 46 hypotheses met regarding its ability to detect change.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Missing data occurred due to dropouts, death, and technical issues with the IMU, reducing the sample size for specific analyses. Not all participants could perform all tests at admission due to severe balance problems. The Global Rating of Change (GRC) scores had small subcategories, and participants may have considered general disability rather than just balance when rating their improvement. The study population was older (mean age 71.99 years) than some previous studies that did find sway changes, though age subgroup analysis showed no difference in sway recovery between younger and older groups.
Declared interests
The funders played no role in the design, conduct, or reporting of this study.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret a lack of change in sensor-based postural sway as a failure of rehabilitation or a lack of patient progress. The study found that patients often improved their functional balance and independence on standard tests without showing significant changes in their postural sway metrics.