Stroboscopic Vision as a Dynamic Sensory Reweighting Alternative to the Sensory Organization Test

Context: The sensory organization test (SOT) is a standard for quantifying sensory dependence via sway-referenced conditions (sway-referenced support and sway-referenced vision [SRV]). However, the SOT is limited to expensive equipment. Thus, a practical version of the SOT is more commonly employed-the clinical test for sensory integration in balance; however, it fails to induce postural instability to the level of SRV. Objective: Determine if Stroboscopic vision (SV), characterized by intermittent visual blocking, may provide an alternative to the SRV for assessing postural stability. Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Setting: Research laboratory. Participants: Eighteen participants (9 males, 9 females; age = 22.1 [2.1] y, height = 169.8 [8.5] cm, weight = 66.5 [10.6] kg). Intervention: Participants completed the SOT conditions, and then repeated SOT conditions 2 and 5 with SV created by specialized eyewear. Main Outcome Measures: A repeated-measures analysis of variance was completed on the time-to-boundary metrics of center-of-pressure excursion in the anteroposterior and mediolateral directions in order to determine the difference between the full-vision, SV, and SRV conditions. Results: Postural stability with either SRV or SV was significantly worse than with full vision (P < .05), with no significant difference between SV and SRV (P> .05). Limits of agreement analysis revealed similar effects of SV and SRV except for unstable surface mediolateral time-to-boundary. Conclusions: In general, SV was found to induce a degree of postural instability similar to that induced by SRV, indicating that SV could be a portable and relatively inexpensive alternative for the assessment of sensory dependence and reweighting.