Abstract
BackgroundReaction time (RT) has been associated with falls in older adults, but is not routinely tested in clinical practice. A simple, portable, inexpensive and reliable method for measuring RT is desirable for clinical settings. We therefore developed a custom software, which utilizes the portable and low-cost standard Nintendo Wii board (NWB) to record RT. The aims in the study were to (1) explore if the test could differentiate old and young adults, and (2) to study learning effects between test-sessions, and (3) to examine reproducibility.MethodsA young (n = 25, age 20–35 years, mean BMI of 22.6) and an old (n = 25, age ≥65 years, mean BMI of 26.3) study-population were enrolled in this within- and between-day reproducibility study. A standard NWB was used along with the custom software to obtain RT from participants in milliseconds. A mixed effect model was initially used to explore systematic differences associated with age, and test-session. Reproducibility was then expressed by Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC), Coefficient of Variance (CV), and Typical Error (TE).ResultsThe RT tests was able to differentiate the old group from the young group in both the upper extremity test (p < 0.001; −170.7 ms (95%CI −209.4;-132.0)) and the lower extremity test (p < 0.001; −224.3 ms (95%CI −274.6;-173.9)). Moreover, the mixed effect model showed no significant learning effect between sessions with exception of the lower extremity test between session one and three for the young group (−35,5 ms; 4.6 %; p = 0.02). A good within- and between-day reproducibility (ICC: 0.76-0.87; CV: 8.5-12.9; TE: 45.7-95.1 ms) was achieved for both the upper and lower extremity test with the fastest of three trials in both groups.ConclusionA low-cost and portable reaction test utilizing a standard Nintendo wii board showed good reproducibility, no or little systematic learning effects across test-sessions, and could differentiate between young and older adults in both upper and lower extremity tests.
Highlights
Reaction time (RT) has been associated with falls in older adults, but is not routinely tested in clinical practice
Upper extremity test Results from the mixed effect model based on 10 trials at each session (1, 2 and 3) indicated a statistical significant effect of age, favoring the young group in RT for the upper extremity (p < 0.001; −170.7 ms (95%CI −209.4 to −132.0))
The results indicate that the RT tests can differentiate older adults from younger adults
Summary
Reaction time (RT) has been associated with falls in older adults, but is not routinely tested in clinical practice. Many reports have associated fall accidents in older adults with an increased reaction time (RT) in either the upper or lower extremities [4,5,6,7,8,9] but is not routinely tested in clinical practice. [5] performed a prospective study on 341 communitydwelling women (+65 years of age) and found a strong association between fallers and increased lower limb RT compared to the non-fallers Another prospective study [6] found that upper and lower-extremity RT along with other physiological, cognitive and medical factors could discriminate between fallers and nonfallers. Several researchers have found RT measures to be responsive to exercise interventions in older adults [11,12,13], making the RT measures relevant
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