Introduction There is need of a clinical assessment measuring locomotory
differentiation ability.
Objective The Target-Step-Test (TST) for evaluating the locomotory
differentiation ability should be checked for its reliability in the context of
practical application. Furthermore, it is necessary to define a standard value
range. In addition, an examination of the exercise attempts should enable a
statement to be made about the adequate test execution.
Materials and Methods 208 healthy adults between 18 and 45 years were
asked to perform the TST twice. The test procedures of 205 test persons could be
evaluated. The individual experiments and target steps were photo documented.
The 4 directions of movement included stepping forward with the right and left
leg and stepping to the side with the right and left leg. Each direction
contains 3 exercise steps with open eyes and one target step with closed eyes.
The difference to the target line was rounded up or down to 5 mm by the
raters.
Results For the inter-rater and intra-rater reliability as well as the
test-retest reliability high intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and
corrected kappa values could be calculated. 90 % of the measurements
performed are within the range of −4.85 to 5 cm of the target line. The
testing of the measured value repetition shows no differences between 2nd and
3rd step with open eyes. Therefore, it should be sufficient to perform 2
exercise steps with open eyes before the decisive target step with closed
eyes.
Conclusions The TST is reliable regarding inter-rater, intra-rater and
test-retest reliability. The standard value range for healthy adults is set
to±5 cm distance from the target line. Regarding the test
procedure, it is sufficient to execute the target step with closed eyes after
practicing twice with open eyes. The Target-Step-Test is reliable and can easily
be carried out in daily routine to measure locomotory differentiation ability as
a step movement.