Accuracy to identify young adults with chronic ankle instability using a virtual reality - Balance error scoring system: A cross-sectional study.

Introduction: The Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) assesses the ability to control postural stability by performing 3 different stances on two-type surfaces during closed eyes. Virtual reality technology combined with the BESS test (VR-BESS) may be used to disrupt visual inputs instead of closing the eyes, which may improve the sensitivity of diagnosing patients with chronic ankle instability (CAI).

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy to identify individuals with CAI of the VR-BESS test comparing with the original BESS test.

Methods: The BESS and VR-BESS tests were administered to 68 young adults (34 participants with CAI and 34 without CAI). Frontal and lateral video views were used to measure the participant's performance errors. The area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was computed to determine the diagnostic test's overall accuracy.

Results: The total score of the BESS test and the VR-BESS test were statistically significant in comparison to the AUC of no discrimination at 0.5, with AUC values of 0.63 and 0.64, respectively. The cut-off scores for the BESS and VR-BESS tests were 12 and 15, respectively. There was no significant difference between the ROC curves of the BESS and the VR-BESS test for identifying individuals with CAI.

Conclusion: The BESS and VR-BESS tests may be utilized interchangeably to identify individuals with CAI.