Learning Effects of Repetitive Administrations of the Sensory Organization Test in Healthy Young Adults

Abstract 

Wrisley DM, Stephens MJ, Mosley S, Wojnowski A, Duffy J, Burkard R. Learning effects of repetitive administrations of the Sensory Organization Test in healthy young adults.

Objectives

To evaluate the learning effect of multiple administrations of the Sensory Organization Test (SOT) on performance and to begin to establish clinical meaningful change scores for the SOT.

Design

Descriptive case series.

Setting

University-affiliated clinic.

Participants

Healthy young adults (6 men, 7 women; mean age, 24±4y).

Intervention

All subjects performed the standardized SOT using the SMART EquiTest 5 times over a 2-week period, and 1 month later.

Main Outcome Measure

Composite and individual SOT test condition standardized equilibrium scores.

Results

Test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient model 2,3) of the composite (.67) and equilibrium score (range, .35–.79) were fair to good. Repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed a significant (P<.05) increase in the composite and equilibrium scores for conditions 4, 5, and 6 over the 5 sessions that plateaued after the third session, and were retained at 1 month. The 95% confidence interval for the composite score change from session 1 to session 4, the plateau of the learning effect, was 3.9 to 8.1.

Conclusions

Although the findings of this study would indicate that multiple baseline measures are desirable for the more challenging conditions, a composite change of greater than 8 points would indicate change due to rehabilitation.

Key Words: Balance, Learning, Posture, Rehabilitation, Reproducibility of results