Reliability and Validity of Inertial Sensor Assisted Reaction Time Measurement Tools among Healthy Young Adults

Abstract

The assessment of movement reaction time (RT) as a sideline assessment is a valuable biomarker for mild TBI or concussion. However, such assessments require controlled laboratory environments, which may not be feasible for sideline testing during a game. Body-worn wearable devices are advantageous as being cost-effective, easy to don and use, wirelessly transmit data, and ensure unhindered movement performance. This study aimed to develop a Drop-stick Test System (DTS) with a wireless inertial sensor and confirm its reliability for different standing conditions (Foam versus No Foam) and task types (Single versus Dual), and postures (Standing versus sitting). Fourteen healthy young participants (seven females, seven males; age 24.7 ± 2.6 years) participated in this study. The participants were asked to catch a falling stick attached to the sensor during a drop test. Reaction Times (RTs) were calculated from data for each trial from DTS and laboratory camera system (gold standard). Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC 3,k) were computed to determine inter-instrument reliability. The RT measurements from participants using the camera system and sensor-based DTS showed moderate to good inter-instrument reliability with an overall ICC of 0.82 (95% CI 0.78–0.85). Bland–Altman plots and 95% levels of agreement revealed a bias where the DTS underestimated RT by approximately 50 ms.

Test-Retest Reliability of Immersive Virtual Reality Measures of Perceptual-Motor Performance

“…A variety of clinical test protocols have been devised to impose various combinations of visual, cognitive, or motor demands, and these are believed to reveal brain processing deficiencies that are not evident when component tasks are performed in isolation (Slobounov et al, 2006b). Cognitive demand has often been imposed by such activities as reciting months of the year backwards, reciting results of a series of simple mathematical operations, or giving verbal responses to word-color combinations (i.e., Stroop task); and the complexity of motor responses to visual stimuli has ranged from simple button presses to multi-directional whole-body movement patterns (Harper et al, 2022; Lynall et al, 2021). A possible explanation for the limited sensitivity of many clinical tests used for detecting subtle impairment is that they lack an assessment of integrated visual-cognitive-motor challenges that require simultaneous activation of multiple specific brain circuits frequently employed during real-world functioning (Kiefer et al, 2018; McGowan et al, 2018).…”

“…Whether designated as “reaction time” or “response time” (RT), the interval between a stimulus onset and initiation or completion of some specified response provides a widely accepted representation of the speed of brain information processing (Harper et al, 2022; Marmolejo-Ramos et al, 2015). Overlapping stages of neural processing include stimulus detection (i.e., perceptual awareness), stimulus interpretation and response selection (i.e., cognitive processing), and response execution (i.e., motor activation and control).…”