table 1
Six testing conditions of SOT .
Condition Eyes Support surface
Visual surroundings
Anticipated sensory systems
1 |
Open |
Fixed |
Fixed |
Somatosensory |
2 |
Closed |
Fixed |
Fixed |
Somatosensory |
3 |
Open |
Fixed |
Sway referenced |
Somatosensory |
4 |
Open |
Sway referenced |
Fixed |
Vision and vestibular |
5 |
Closed |
Sway referenced |
Fixed |
Vestibular |
6 |
Open |
Sway referenced |
Sway referenced |
Vestibular |
Sensory organization test ( SOT ).
SOT utilizes the sway-referencing capabilities of the visual surroundings and the support surface to evaluate the integration of the sensory systems in postural control by selectively disrupting somatosensory and / or visual information . Moderate to excellent reliability has been established in SOT among healthy adults ( Ford-smit et al ., 1995 ; Harro & Garascia , 2019 ; Tsang et al ., 2004 ), and among patients with multiple sclerosis ( Hebert & Manago , 2017 ) and transtibial amputation ( Jayakaran , Johnson & Sullivan , 2011 ). The six testing conditions in SOT are described in Table 1 ( Yin & Wang , 2020 ). Each testing condition was repeated three times . All the testing orders were randomly assigned to the participants ( Dickin , 2010 ). The equilibrium and composite scores ( 0 – 100 ) represent the ability of the participants to maintain postural stability in each condition and overall postural control , respectively .
The strategy scores ( 0 – 100 ) quantify the relative amount of movement about the ankle and hip strategies that participants used in maintaining postural stability . A strategy score approaching 100 indicates that ankle strategy is more dominant in maintaining balance , whereas a score closest to 0 suggests that the participant uses hip strategy dominantly to stabilize her body under each trial . Somatosensory ( SOM ), vestibular ( VEST ), and visual scores ( VIS ) ( 0 – 100 ) in sensory analysis quantify the participants ’ ability to integrate proprioception , vestibulum , and vision information that contribute to balance , respectively .
Motor control test ( MCT ).
Postural stability under support surface perturbations was assessed by MCT ( Fig . 2 ). The two force plates with translation capabilities in backward and forward directions can create six perturbing conditions
Current Pedorthics | January-February 2022 45