Reliability of plantar pressure and postural control measures of children from 4 to 12 years: analysis by baropodometry

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.摘要 研究目的：足底压力测压法（baropodometry）可用于绘制压力区域与足底压力振荡图谱，但目前尚未确立其针对儿童的评估信度。本研究旨在确立足底压力测压法（baropodometry）用于分析儿童足底支撑与姿势控制（稳定描记法，stabilometry）的评定者内信度与评定者间信度。 材料与方法：本研究为信度研究。研究样本纳入112名健康男女儿童，年龄介于4至12岁。针对足底压力测压分析，受试者采取直立双足支撑姿势，双脚平行且赤足，由两名独立评定者分别进行4轮、每轮15秒的评估。为明确不同年龄层的评估结果信度，将受试者分为两组：7岁及以下儿童组（n=44）与8至12岁儿童组（n=68）。本次分析的变量包括压力区域、最大足底压力，以及压力中心的振荡面积与振荡幅度。 研究结果：足底压力变量的评定者内与评定者间信度为良好至优秀水平（组内相关系数ICC分别为0.81~0.86与0.87~0.95）；而压力中心振荡的信度则为较差至中等水平（ICC分别为0.33~0.55与0.47~0.57，对应评定者内与评定者间信度）。 研究结论：针对不同年龄层儿童的足底压力进行分析时，足底压力测压法展现出优秀的信度，单次评估即可获得可靠结果。但采用足底压力测压法开展的稳定描记法（stabilometry）分析信度较差，因此不可用于4至12岁儿童的姿势控制评估。