Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Degree

Master of Science

Program

Kinesiology

Supervisor

Dr. Trevor Birmingham

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the measurement properties of the star excursion balance test (SEBT) in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Specific objectives were to estimate: 1) test-retest reliability, 2) concurrent validity of observer measurements compared to a 3D motion capture system, and 3) longitudinal validity in response to 12 weeks of neuromuscular exercises. Thirty-eight patients diagnosed with knee OA participated. They performed the SEBT on three test occasions. The first two test sessions were completed within one week and the third was 12 weeks later. Participants performed exercises at home over the 12-week period. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) ranging from 0.70-to-0.94 suggested good-to-excellent reliability. Pearson r ≥0.96 between observer and motion capture measures suggested excellent concurrent validity. Participants significantly improved (p≤0.05) on six directions and the composite score of the SEBT, with standardized response means >0.4. Improvements in the SEBT were low-to-moderately correlated with improvements in 40m walk times and patient-reported outcomes (r=0.24-0.48) suggesting adequate longitudinal validity. The present results suggest appropriate measurement properties for the SEBT in patients with knee OA and support its use in clinical and research settings.

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