Reliability of mechanomyography and triaxial accelerometry in the assessment of balance

Jeffrey Armstrong, W.; McGregor, Stephen J.; Yaggie, James A.; Bailey, Jerry J.; Johnson, Sean M.; Goin, Aleta M.; Kelly, Samuel R.

doi:10.1016/j.jelekin.2010.02.002

« Previous Next »Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology
Volume 20, Issue 4 , Pages 726-731, August 2010

Reliability of mechanomyography and triaxial accelerometry in the assessment of balance

W. Jeffrey Armstrong
- Division of HPE, Western Oregon University, Monmouth, OR, United States
- Corresponding author. Address: Western Oregon University, Division of Health and Physical Education, 345 N. Monmouth Avenue, Monmouth, OR 97361, United States. Tel.: +1 503 838 8999; fax: +1 503 838 8228.
Stephen J. McGregor
- School of HPHP, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, United States
James A. Yaggie
- College of Health Professions, University of Findlay, Findlay, OH, United States
Jerry J. Bailey
- Division of HPE, Western Oregon University, Monmouth, OR, United States
Sean M. Johnson
- Division of HPE, Western Oregon University, Monmouth, OR, United States
Aleta M. Goin
- Division of HPE, Western Oregon University, Monmouth, OR, United States
Samuel R. Kelly
- Division of HPE, Western Oregon University, Monmouth, OR, United States

Received 24 November 2009; received in revised form 22 January 2010; accepted 1 February 2010. published online 15 March 2010.

Abstract

Reliability of high-resolution accelerometery (HRA) and mechanomyography (MMG) was evaluated for the assessment of single-leg balance. Subjects (5M/5F, 25±3yr; 169.4±11.7cm; 79.0±16.9kg) participated in fifteen (three randomized bouts of five repetitions) 15-s dominant leg stances. A single HRA was fixed superficial to L3/L4 segment to capture motions relative to the center-of-mass, and three-uniaxial accelerometers were fixed on the surface of the dominant leg correspondent to the vastus medialis (VM), vastus lateralis (VL), and soleus (SOL) muscles to record MMG. Triaxial signals from the HRA (s.r.=625Hz) were streamed to a base station, simultaneously with MMG (s.r.=1000Hz). Signals were sampled, recorded and later analyzed. HRAs were recorded in g’s for vertical (VT), medial/lateral (ML), anterior/posterior (AP) directions, and resultant (RES) scalar. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were computed for each and Pearson’s r was calculated for the relationships between MMG and HRA (α⩽0.05). Except for RES (ICC=0.36), all measures demonstrated moderately strong reliability (ICC=0.75, 0.73, 0.63, 0.87, 0.89, and 0.86 for VM, VL, SOL, VT, ML, and AP, respectively). HRA and MMG provide reliable information pertaining to balance, and may have application in evaluating postural control and stability.