Correlation between clinical assessment and force plate measurement of postural control after stroke

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Abstract
Objectives: To explore the correlation between clinical as- sessment and force plate measurement of postural control after stroke when selected balance tasks are performed un- der similar spatial and temporal conditions, and to examine the inter-rater agreement of assessment of weight distribu- tion during quiet stance in subjects with stroke. Design: A descriptive and correlational study. Methods: Clinical assessment of postural control using Berg Balance Scale, video recording for rating of weight distri- bution, and force plate measurement with the Vifor-system, were performed in 20 subjects with stroke. Results: Mean velocity of displacement of the centre of pres- sure in the anterior-posterior direction correlated moderately with scores from the Berg Balance Scale items "maintaining a position" in the whole sample (r s = -0.50, p <0.05) as well as in a subgroup of subjects with stroke with submaximal Berg Balance Scale scores (r s = -0.62, p < 0.05). Moderate correla- tion was found between ratings of each of 3 physiotherapists and centre of pressure's mean position in the frontal plane on the force plate, while the inter-rater agreement was poor. Conclusion: Clinical assessment of postural control and weight distribution showed moderate correlation with force plate measurement when the assessments were performed under similar conditions. The data suggest that the reliabil- ity of observational postural analysis needs to be improved.

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