Validity and reliability of proprioception tests with electrogoniometer and mobile application in patients with stroke

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Although proprioceptive impairment is observed in about half of patients with stroke and is a factor affecting functional recovery and length of hospital stay, there is a discrepancy in terms of its measurement methods between physiotherapy research and the clinical field. This study aimed to examine the concurrent validity and reliability of knee proprioception using an electrogoniometer and a mobile app in patients with stroke. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we conducted proprioception tests with an electrogoniometer (custom-made device; Unimec, Japan) and an app (Goniometer Pro; 5fuf5, Bloomfield, NJ) in 28 hospitalized patients with stroke, with an average of 11.21 days (range 2–4 days) from the onset of stroke. Threshold to detect passive motion (TDPM), TDPM+muscle tendon vibration (MTV), and joint position sense (JPS) were used for proprioception tests. These tests were performed three times each in a random order, and the intraclass correlation coefficient, correlation, and absolute reliability for the electrogoniometer and the app were analyzed. RESULTS: Both TDPM and TDPM+MTV measured by the electrogoniometer and the app showed high correlation and “good” to “excellent” reliability regarding the variation in measured values, indicating that the two instruments are compatible, while JPS showed “poor” to “moderate” reliability and weak correlation for the electrogoniometer and the app. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, in patients with stroke, TDPM and TDPM+MTV measurements using the Goniometer Pro app can replace measurements with an electrogoniometer.