Ataxia at altitude measured on a wobble board.
Wilderness Environ Med
; 16(1): 42-6, 2005.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-15813147
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To establish a simple measure of ataxia for use at high altitude.METHODS:
Twenty healthy subjects took part in a trek to 5005 m. At 5 different altitudes on the route, they undertook a balance test using a wobble board. The primary objectives were to investigate disturbances of ataxia at altitude and to correlate any observed disturbances with acute mountain sickness (AMS) scores. Secondary outcomes were correlations with cerebral regional oxygenation, pulse oximetry, and age.RESULTS:
After a short learning curve, the wobble board test was found to be reproducible. Subjects over 31 years of age were significantly less steady than younger subjects. Subjects suffering acute mountain sickness scored significantly worse on the wobble board test, although scores did not correlate with a specific question on unsteadiness. A positive test defined as equal to or more than 2.5 contacts over 2 minutes gave a predictive value for acute mountain sickness of 66.7% at 4650 m and 100% at 5005 m. Cerebral regional oxygenation in 9 subjects at 5005 m correlated with the wobble board test (r = 0.73; p < .05), whereas pulse oximetry did not.CONCLUSIONS:
The wobble board may be a useful adjunct in quantitating ataxia in the field. A positive result may indicate the presence of AMS and may be a useful clinical measure of cerebral hypoxia but should be correlated with other clinical features.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Ataxia
/
Hipóxia Encefálica
/
Doença da Altitude
/
Montanhismo
Tipo de estudo:
Evaluation_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Wilderness Environ Med
Assunto da revista:
SAUDE AMBIENTAL
Ano de publicação:
2005
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Reino Unido