Validity and Reliability of Wii Fit Balance Board for the Assessment of Balance of Healthy Young Adults and the Elderly

[Purpose] Balance is an integral part of human ability. The smart balance master system (SBM) is a balance test instrument with good reliability and validity, but it is expensive. Therefore, we modified a Wii Fit balance board, which is a convenient balance assessment tool, and analyzed its reliability and validity. [Subjects and Methods] We recruited 20 healthy young adults and 20 elderly people, and administered 3 balance tests. The correlation coefficient and intraclass correlation of both instruments were analyzed. [Results] There were no statistically significant differences in the 3 tests between the Wii Fit balance board and the SBM. The Wii Fit balance board had a good intraclass correlation (0.86–0.99) for the elderly people and positive correlations (r = 0.58–0.86) with the SBM. [Conclusions] The Wii Fit balance board is a balance assessment tool with good reliability and high validity for elderly people, and we recommend it as an alternative tool for assessing balance ability.

[1]  Erik A Wikstrom,et al.  Validity and reliability of Nintendo Wii Fit balance scores. , 2012, Journal of athletic training.

[2]  J. Armstrong,et al.  A general mathematical model of transduction events in mechano-sensory stretch receptors , 2011, Network.

[3]  C. Peifer,et al.  Psychophysiological Correlates of Flow-Experience , 2012 .

[4]  J. Pater Quality of life and pharmacoeconomics in clinical trials , 1996 .

[5]  Steven Truijen,et al.  Clinical assessment of balance: Normative data, and gender and age effects , 2008, International journal of audiology.

[6]  Banu Mujdeci,et al.  Avaliação do equilíbrio em idosos que sofrem queda e aqueles que não sofrem quedas , 2012 .

[7]  C Gordon,et al.  Potential of the Nintendo Wii™ as a rehabilitation tool for children with cerebral palsy in a developing country: a pilot study. , 2012, Physiotherapy.

[8]  M. Kafri,et al.  Nintendo Wii Sports and Wii Fit Game Analysis, Validation, and Application to Stroke Rehabilitation , 2011, Topics in stroke rehabilitation.

[9]  P. Alpert,et al.  The Effect of a Senior Jazz Dance Class on Static Balance in Healthy Women Over 50 Years of Age: A Pilot Study , 2009, Biological research for nursing.

[10]  David Pothier,et al.  A portable, low-cost system for posturography: a platform for longitudinal balance telemetry. , 2012, Journal of otolaryngology - head & neck surgery = Le Journal d'oto-rhino-laryngologie et de chirurgie cervico-faciale.

[11]  Murray Griffin,et al.  Activity-promoting gaming systems in exercise and rehabilitation. , 2011, Journal of rehabilitation research and development.

[12]  R. Harter,et al.  Validity and reliability of limits-of-stability testing: a comparison of 2 postural stability evaluation devices. , 2011, Journal of athletic training.

[13]  Yu-Cheng Pei,et al.  Comparison of the static and dynamic balance performance in young, middle-aged, and elderly healthy people. , 2009, Chang Gung medical journal.

[14]  Julia O. Bader,et al.  WiiFit™ Plus balance test scores for the assessment of balance and mobility in older adults. , 2012, Gait & posture.

[15]  H. Bliddal,et al.  Postural sway in normal subjects aged 20–70 years , 2003, Clinical physiology and functional imaging.

[16]  A. Ataş,et al.  Evaluation of balance in fallers and nonfallers elderly , 2015, Brazilian journal of otorhinolaryngology.

[17]  Keizo Yamamoto,et al.  Validity of a jump training apparatus using Wii Balance Board. , 2013, Gait & posture.

[18]  Tatiana de Paula Oliveira,et al.  Effect of Nintendo Wii™-based motor and cognitive training on activities of daily living in patients with Parkinson's disease: a randomised clinical trial. , 2012, Physiotherapy.

[19]  J. Pompeu,et al.  Effect of Nintendo WiiTM-based motor and cognitive training on activities of daily living in patients with Parkinson ’ s disease : A randomised clinical trial , 2012 .