抄録
The Sensory Organization Test (SOT) is a well accepted and commonly used method to quantify stance stability under varying sensory conditions. However, the accuracy of each machine may vary thus hindering the comparison of results from different laboratories. The purpose of this study was to investigate the consistency of postural stability measures of the SOT conducted on two machines made in 1991 and 1997. Three postural stability measures (equilibrium score, sway area, sway velocity) were obtained using standardized static weights (20-80 kg), swaying weights (21-81 kg), and human subjects (n=10, mean age=22.2 years) on the two machines. The testing sequence was balanced between machines. The results showed good consistency between machines while using the swaying weights and while human subjects were tested. However, a significant difference between machines was found while using the static weights (p<0.05). It was concluded that the computerized postural stability measures of SOT have good inter-machine consistency with non-stationary weights and humans, but that the static weight should be added to the calibration routine to detect abnormal machine behaviors.
