The Sharpened Romberg Test for Assessing Ataxia in Mild Acute Mountain Sickness

Abstract

To evaluate the Sharpened Romberg Test (SRT) as a measure of ataxia in subjects with mild acute mountain sickness in order to determine its sensitivity and specificity. The SRT was performed in 23 subjects during ascent to 5260 m. The SRT was more often abnormal than the traditional heel-to-toe test, and at the highest altitude it was related to higher median Lake Louise symptom scores with predictive values of 60% sensitivity and 89% specificity. Our evaluation of the SRT appears to agree with similar studies on ataxia showing a lack of correlation between ataxia and symptoms of acute mountain sickness at altitudes below 5260 m. The SRT was easy to perform and provided a quantitative assessment of truncal ataxia in the field without the need for specialized equipment.