Reliability of the TekScan MatScan® system for the measurement of plantar forces and pressures during barefoot level walking in healthy adults

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Background

Plantar pressure systems are increasingly being used to evaluate foot function in both research settings and in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability of the TekScan MatScan ^®system in assessing plantar forces and pressures during barefoot level walking.

Methods

Thirty participants were assessed for the reliability of measurements taken one week apart for the variables maximum force, peak pressure and average pressure. The following seven regions of the foot were investigated; heel, midfoot, 3 ^rd-5 ^thmetatarsophalangeal joint, 2 ^ndmetatarsophalangeal joint, 1 ^stmetatarsophalangeal joint, hallux and the lesser toes.

Results

Reliability was assessed using both the mean and the median values of three repeated trials. The system displayed moderate to good reliability of mean and median calculations for the three analysed variables across all seven regions, as indicated by intra-class correlation coefficients ranging from 0.44 to 0.95 for the mean and 0.54 to 0.97 for the median, and coefficients of variation ranging from 5 to 20% for the mean and 3 to 23% for the median. Selecting the median value of three repeated trials yielded slightly more reliable results than the mean.

Conclusions

These findings indicate that the TekScan MatScan ^®system demonstrates generally moderate to good reliability.

Related collections

Most cited references 42

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Statistical methods for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurement.

J Bland, D Altman (1986)

In clinical measurement comparison of a new measurement technique with an established one is often needed to see whether they agree sufficiently for the new to replace the old. Such investigations are often analysed inappropriately, notably by using correlation coefficients. The use of correlation is misleading. An alternative approach, based on graphical techniques and simple calculations, is described, together with the relation between this analysis and the assessment of repeatability.

0 comments Cited 2546 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Development and validation of a novel rating system for scoring standing foot posture: the Foot Posture Index.

Anthony C. Redmond, Jack Crosbie, Robert Ouvrier (2006)

The limitations of clinical methods for appraising foot posture are well documented. A new measure, the Foot Posture Index is proposed, and its development and validation described. A four-phase development process was used: (i) to derive a series of candidate measures, (ii) to define an appropriate scoring system, (iii) to evaluate the validity of components and modify the instrument as appropriate, and (iv) to investigate the predictive validity of the finalised instrument relative to static and dynamic kinematic models. Methods included initial concurrent validation using Rose's Valgus Index, determination of inter-item reliability, factor analysis, and benchmarking against three dimensional kinematic models derived from electromagnetic motion tracking of the lower limb. Thirty-six candidate components were reduced to six in the final instrument. The draft version of the instrument predicted 59% of the variance in concurrent Valgus Index scores and demonstrated good inter item reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.83). The relevant variables from the motion tracking lower limb model predicted 58-80% of the variance in the six components retained in the final instrument. The finalised instrument predicted 64% of the variance in static standing posture, and 41% of the variance in midstance posture during normal walking. The Foot Posture Index has been subjected to thorough evaluation in the course of its development and a final version is proposed comprising six component measures that performed satisfactorily during the validation process. The Foot Posture Index assessment is quick and simple to perform and allows a multiple segment, multiple plane evaluation that offers some advantages over existing clinical measures of foot posture.

0 comments Cited 212 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Smallest real difference, a link between reproducibility and responsiveness.

H Beckerman, M Roebroeck, G Lankhorst … (2001)

The aim of this study is to show the relationship between test-retest reproducibility and responsiveness and to introduce the smallest real difference (SRD) approach, using the sickness impact profile (SIP) in chronic stroke patients as an example. Forty chronic stroke patients were interviewed twice by the same examiner, with a 1-week interval. All patients were interviewed during the qualification period preceding a randomized clinical trial. Test-retest reproducibility has been quantified by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). the standard error of measurement (SEM) and the related smallest real difference (SRD). Responsiveness was defined as the ratio of the clinically relevant change to the SD of the within-stable-subject test-retest differences. The ICC for the total SIP was 0.92, whereas the ICCs for the specified SIP categories varied from 0.63 for the category 'recreation and pastime' to 0.88 for the category 'work'. However, both the SEM and the SRD far more capture the essence of the reproducibility of a measurement instrument. For instance, a total SIP score of an individual patient of 28.3% (which is taken as an example, being the mean score in the study population) should decrease by at least 9.26% or approximately 13 items, before any improvement beyond reproducibility noise can be detected. The responsiveness to change of a health status measurement instrument is closely related to its test-retest reproducibility. This relationship becomes more evident when the SEM and the SRD are used to quantify reproducibility, than when ICC or other correlation coefficients are used.

0 comments Cited 143 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): J Foot Ankle Res

Title: Journal of Foot and Ankle Research

Publisher: BioMed Central

ISSN (Electronic): 1757-1146

Publication date Collection: 2010

Publication date (Electronic): 18 June 2010

Volume: 3

Page: 11

Affiliations

[1 ]Musculoskeletal Research Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University, Victoria 3086, Australia

[2 ]Department of Podiatry, Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University, Victoria 3086, Australia

Article

Publisher ID: 1757-1146-3-11

DOI: 10.1186/1757-1146-3-11

PMC ID: 2902454

PubMed ID: 20565812

SO-VID: 8118f240-4eb8-415e-b6ca-1e645de0af7e

License:

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.