ayman matar

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this work are to culturally adapt the Identification of Functional Ankle Instability questionnaire (IdFAI) into Arabic language and to examine its psychometrics.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.

SETTING: This research took place at Cairo University in Egypt.

PARTICIPANTS: Twenty eight college-aged students participated in the translation and cultural adaptation, while another 86 college-aged students participated in the measurements (validity and reliability).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The original IdFAI was translated into Arabic language using standard guidelines. The Arabic version of the IdFAI (IdFAI-Ar) and the Arabic version of the Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS-Ar) were applied to 86 college-aged students with and without functional ankle instability. The IdFAI-Ar was tested on two occasions with an interval of one week to investigate its psychometrics.

RESULTS: The IdFAI-Ar had a moderate correlation with LEFS-Ar and a strong correlation with ankle status classification. The reliability and internal consistency were excellent. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were 0.91, 0.80, and 0.99 respectively.

CONCLUSION: The IdFAI-Ar has high validity and reliability. It can be used in clinical and research practices as a region-specific tool to discriminate between participants with and without functional ankle instability in the Arabic-speaking countries.

[Purpose] This study investigated efficacy of virtual reality (VR)-based balance training on enhancing balance and postural reactions of adults as a low-cost new modality compared to the established Biodex Balance System (BBS). [Subjects] Thirty normal adults of both genders were divided randomly into two equal-sized experimental groups of 15: BBS balance training and VR balance training. [Methods] The training programmes were conducted in 12 sessions, three 15-min sessions per week. The Nintendo(®) Wii Fit Plus (NWFP) and its balance board were used to train of the VR group. Each participant answered a questionnaire concerning usability, enjoyment, balance improvement, and fatigue at the end of the training programs. [Results] The study found a significant increase the measure of mean overall balance (OLB) in both groups. No significant difference was found between the groups, but a significant decrease in the mean balance-test time was found for both groups, with no significant difference between the two training methods. The VR programme was rated highly enjoyable by 81.8% of the group. [Conclusion] The Wii Fit Plus system with the balance board as a new VR balance-training technique, can be considered an effective and enjoyable tool for the training of adults' body balance.