Award Date

12-2011

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Kinesiology

Department

Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences

First Committee Member

Janet Dufek, Chair

Second Committee Member

Antonio Santo

Third Committee Member

John Mercer

Graduate Faculty Representative

Sue Schuerman

Number of Pages

70

Abstract

Context. Application of the Nintendo Wii-fit balance board and its games have been used in Physical Therapy clinics, showing success in individuals with neurological disorders, and has been recommended as a minimum baseline assessment of a symptoms checklist and standardized cognitive and balance assessments for concussion management by the NCAA. However, it still faces challenges of being considered a reliable and consistent tool for producing normative data in the allied healthcare. Because there is little to no evidence for the Wii-fit balance board as a valid balance assessment tool for clinical and/or research usage, the significance of this study is to provide substantial evidence of whether the Nintendo Wii-fit balance board can be used as a valid balance assessment tool.

Objective. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity of the Wii-fit balance board as an assessment tool for balance by comparing it to the Bertec balance check platform and Kistler force platform.

Design. Experimental Study

Setting. UNLV research laboratory

Patients or Other Participants. Twelve apparently healthy, male (n = 5) and female (n=7) subjects between the ages of 18 - 30 years (age = 23 ± 3 yrs.) weighing no more than 1468 N (mass = 69.9 ± 22.6 kg, height = 167.6 ± 3 cm).

Main Outcomes or Measure(s). Subjects completed five trials of the Nintendo Wii-fit game called the "Stillness Body Test" on each of the following instruments: Bertec balance check platform, Kistler force platform, and Nintendo Wii-fit balance board (WBB). Results from the tests were used to compare center of pressure (CoP) maximum excursion range relationships among the three instruments.

Results. The results indicated that there was a significant CoP maximum excursion range positive relationship between the Bertec balance check platform and WBB in both the anterior-posterior (A/P) and medial-lateral (M/L) direction, suggesting measurement validity(r A/P = 0.710, p A/P = 0.010, r M/L = 0.759, p M/L = 0.004). However, there was only a significant positive relationship between the Kistler force platform and WBB in the medial-lateral direction (M/L) but not in the anterior-posterior (A/P) direction, suggesting comparative validity only in the medial-lateral direction (M/L) (r A/P = 0.465, p A/P = 0.128, r M/L = 0.579, p M/L = 0.049). Additional results indicated that the A/P CoP total excursion and total excursion velocity averages between the Kistler and Bertec were found to be significantly different (t A/P = - 2.841, p excursion = 0.016 t A/P = - 2.964, p velocity = 0.013). However, the M/L CoP total excursion and total excursion velocity averages between the Kistler force platform and Bertec were not significantly different (t M/L = - 1.754, p excursion = 0.107 t M/L = - 1.349, p velocity = 0.204).

Keywords

Brain—Concussion; Nervous system — Diseases – Rehabilitation; Nintendo Wii video games; Physical therapy

Disciplines

Hardware Systems | Kinesiology | Motor Control | Other Computer Engineering | Physical Therapy | Recreational Therapy | Rehabilitation and Therapy

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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