Research Institute for Sport and Exercise, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia.
Statistical Consulting Unit, 2219Australian National University, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
Percept Mot Skills. 2021 Oct;128(5):2075-2096. doi: 10.1177/00315125211029906. Epub 2021 Jul 1.
Proprioceptive ability - the sense of where body parts are located in space - is one of many factors thought to affect falls risk among the elderly. Active movement extent discrimination is an approach to measuring proprioception that is administered in an ecologically valid testing environment to better reflect the exercise of proprioceptive skills in daily life. The Active Movement Extent Discrimination Apparatus (AMEDA) was developed to objectively measure this proprioceptive discrimination. However, the current absolute identification testing protocol is cognitively demanding, and it yields results that are insufficiently reliable to assess performance at the individual level. The objectives of this pilot study were to test the reliability and feasibility of a proposed new AMEDA testing protocol and to explore how performance related to cognitive ability and any perceived dysfunction in the foot or ankle. We tested 42 participants (aged 19 - 94 years) three times on the ankle AMEDA using a newly developed protocol that asked participants to report whether a given angle of ankle inversion was shallower or deeper than the immediately preceding inversion. Participants also completed the Stroop test, as a measure of cognitive ability, and two validated questionnaires for identifying foot or ankle dysfunction (the Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool and the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure). The proportion of correct responses for the AMEDA test showed the expected sigmoid shape of the psychometric function as signal strength increased. The intraclass correlation coefficient measured over the three tests was 0.65 (95% confidence interval: 0.49 - 0.78), suggesting moderate reliability. We found a positive and statistically significant correlation between AMEDA performance and Stroop results but no relationship between the AMEDA score and questionnaire-measured foot or ankle dysfunction. This study confirmed that the alternative testing protocol was simple to administer and easily understood by participants.
本体感觉能力——即感知身体部位在空间中位置的能力——被认为是影响老年人跌倒风险的众多因素之一。主动运动幅度辨别是一种测量本体感觉的方法，它在生态有效的测试环境中进行，以更好地反映日常生活中本体感觉技能的运用。主动运动幅度辨别仪（AMEDA）是为客观测量这种本体感觉辨别而开发的。然而，目前的绝对识别测试方案认知要求较高，其结果的可靠性不足以评估个体水平的表现。本研究旨在测试一种新的 AMEDA 测试方案的可靠性和可行性，并探讨其与认知能力以及脚或脚踝任何感知功能障碍的相关性。我们使用新开发的方案对 42 名参与者（年龄 19-94 岁）的踝关节 AMEDA 进行了三次测试，该方案要求参与者报告给定的踝关节内翻角度是否比前一次内翻角度浅或深。参与者还完成了斯特鲁普测试，作为认知能力的衡量标准，以及两个用于识别脚或脚踝功能障碍的有效问卷（坎伯兰踝关节不稳定工具和脚和踝关节能力测量）。AMEDA 测试中正确反应的比例随着信号强度的增加呈现出预期的心理测量函数的 S 形。三次测试的组内相关系数为 0.65（95%置信区间：0.49-0.78），表明可靠性中等。我们发现 AMEDA 表现与斯特鲁普结果之间存在正相关且具有统计学意义，但 AMEDA 评分与问卷测量的脚或脚踝功能障碍之间没有关系。这项研究证实了替代测试方案易于管理且参与者易于理解。
