Abstract
Abstract Aim: Baropodometry is used to map pressure areas and plantar pressure oscillation, however, children’s evaluation reliability is not established. To establish the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of baropodometry for analysis of plantar support and postural control (stabilometry) of children. Materials and Methods: Reliability study. The sample consisted of 112 healthy children of both sexes; aged 4 to 12 years old. For the baropodometer analysis, children were positioned in orthostatic position, bipodal support, with parallel and bare feet during four rounds of 15-second evaluations, executed by two independent evaluators. In order to establish the reliability of the results at different age ranges, participants were divided into two groups: children ages 7 years and younger (n = 44) and children aged 8 to 12 years old (n = 68). The variables analyzed were pressure area and maximum plantar pressure, area, and amplitude of oscillation of the center of pressure. Results: Reliability was rated from good to excellent for the intra- and inter-evaluators (ICC 0.81-0.86 and ICC 0.87-0.95, respectively) on plantar pressure variables, and poor to moderate for the center of pressure oscillations (ICC 0.33-0.55; ICC 0.47-0.57, intra and inter-evaluators, respectively). Conclusion: Excellent baropodometry reliability was observed when analyzing children’s plantar pressure at different age groups, and a single evaluation established reliable results. However, the stabilometry analysis with a baropodometer has poor reliability, and therefore, it should not be used for children aged 4 to 12 for postural control.
Highlights
In childhood, muscle imbalance and musculoskeletal disorders may lead to asymmetric characteristics of plantar pressure
In children with age equal or, less than seven years intra-evaluator reliability was excellent for the plantar pressure variables and poor for the stabilometry analyzed in the baropodometer
Interevaluator reliability was good to excellent for plantar pressure variables and poor to moderate for stabilometry analysis (Table 4)
Summary
Muscle imbalance and musculoskeletal disorders may lead to asymmetric characteristics of plantar pressure. High plantar pressure peaks may be associated with tissue damage and trigger contact area changes, with consequent impairment of postural control and balance[2]. It is believed that the imbalance of plantar pressure can lead to functional overload, dysfunction, degeneration, and pathologies[3], which highlights the importance of early diagnosis of plantar pressure and pressure area to detect possible biomechanical changes that may trigger further injury. In this sense, baropodometry is widely used in clinical practice to map the plantar pressure area through graphical records. The same instrument can measure the plantar pressure variables and can be used as an indirect means of assessing postural control[9], facilitating, and making evaluations in clinical practice viable
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