The test–retest reliability of motor performance measures after traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Physically well recovered traumatically brain injured (TBI) patients complain of impaired motor performance, which may not be apparent in conventional neurological examination. A reliable test battery measuring mild physical impairment in TBI populations would be a welcome tool for clinical practice. The aim of this study was to evaluate the test–retest reliability of static and dynamic balance, running in a figure-of-eight (agility) and rhythm co-ordination tests. Thirty-four well-recovered TBI inpatients and 36 healthy male volunteers were tested on two occasions. The change in the mean, the typical error and the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) were used as statistics of reliability for continuous measurements and Cohen's kappa coefficient for categorical variables. The best result of consecutive trials within each test showed the best reliability. In the tandem walking tests and running figure-of-eight tests, the reliability was lower in the TBI group than in the controls but still good. The repeatability of static balance and the rhythm co-ordination was moderate in both groups. A slight training effect from test to retest session was observed in most of the performance tests. Balance, rhythm co-ordination and agility tests proved to be reliable for testing TBI men, and can therefore be used in clinical setting.

• Agility
• balance
• co-ordination
• motor skills
• physiotherapy
• rehabilitation
• repeatability
• sense of rhythm