Yuping Chen1, Sergio Garcia-Vergara2, Ayanna Howard2. 1. Department of Physical Therapy, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA. Electronic address: ypchen@gsu.edu. 2. School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Abstract
STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional design was used. INTRODUCTION: Motion analysis is commonly used to analyze reaching movements of individuals, but how many trials are necessary to provide stable data? PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The purpose of this study was to determine the number of trials necessary to obtain stable kinematic variables during reaching movements in a virtual environment. METHODS: Thirty children (10.39 ± 1.68 years) and 20 adults (26.55 ± 3.12 years) participated. All participants interacted with a virtual reality evaluation game called Super Pop VR to collect their reaching kinematics. The players were instructed to pop several sets of virtual bubbles at a self-selected pace and their upper-body coordinates were recorded and reaching kinematics were computed. Two methods (sequential averaging techniques, SAT, and intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC) were carried out to assess performance stability of each kinematic variable. RESULTS: For the SAT method, children exhibited 3.11 to 5.96 trial range to achieve stability in the dominant hand and 2.7 to 5.96 trial range in the nondominant hand, whereas adults exhibited 2.65 to 6.16 trial range in the dominant hand and 3.40 to 6.05 range in the nondominant hand. For the ICC method, to reach the "excellent" value of ICC, children's dominant hand required 4.20 trials and their nondominant hand required 2.5 trials, whereas adults' dominant hand required 3.00 trials and their nondominant hand required 2.80 trials. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Our findings supported the importance of determining the minimum number of trials required to obtain stable movements regardless of how familiar the movement seems to participants or how sensitive the apparatus is.
STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional design was used. INTRODUCTION: Motion analysis is commonly used to analyze reaching movements of individuals, but how many trials are necessary to provide stable data? PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The purpose of this study was to determine the number of trials necessary to obtain stable kinematic variables during reaching movements in a virtual environment. METHODS: Thirty children (10.39 ± 1.68 years) and 20 adults (26.55 ± 3.12 years) participated. All participants interacted with a virtual reality evaluation game called Super Pop VR to collect their reaching kinematics. The players were instructed to pop several sets of virtual bubbles at a self-selected pace and their upper-body coordinates were recorded and reaching kinematics were computed. Two methods (sequential averaging techniques, SAT, and intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC) were carried out to assess performance stability of each kinematic variable. RESULTS: For the SAT method, children exhibited 3.11 to 5.96 trial range to achieve stability in the dominant hand and 2.7 to 5.96 trial range in the nondominant hand, whereas adults exhibited 2.65 to 6.16 trial range in the dominant hand and 3.40 to 6.05 range in the nondominant hand. For the ICC method, to reach the "excellent" value of ICC, children's dominant hand required 4.20 trials and their nondominant hand required 2.5 trials, whereas adults' dominant hand required 3.00 trials and their nondominant hand required 2.80 trials. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Our findings supported the importance of determining the minimum number of trials required to obtain stable movements regardless of how familiar the movement seems to participants or how sensitive the apparatus is.
Authors: Kimberly L Kontson; Sophie Wang; Sydney Barovsky; Conor Bloomer; Laura Wozniczka; Eugene F Civillico Journal: J Hand Ther Date: 2019-03-08 Impact factor: 1.950
Authors: Josien C van den Noort; Alberto Ferrari; Andrea G Cutti; Jules G Becher; Jaap Harlaar Journal: Med Biol Eng Comput Date: 2012-12-09 Impact factor: 2.602