What is a positive Romberg test?

A positive Romberg test denotes sensory ataxia as the cause of postural imbalance. Sustaining balance while standing in an upright position depends on the sensory and motor pathways of the brainstem. The sensory pathway involves proprioception and the body’s awareness of position and motion in space.

How is the Romberg test scored?

Technique

1. The patient is asked to remove his shoes and stand with his two feet together.
2. The clinician asks the patient to first stand quietly with eyes open, and subsequently with eyes closed.
3. The Romberg test is scored by counting the seconds the patient is able to stand with eyes closed.

Is Romberg positive in BPPV?

Romberg’s test This test is positive if the person standing up becomes unsteady when they shut their eyes, where before they were steady with eyes open.

What is the modified Romberg test?

The Modified Romberg Balance Test begins with the officer instructing the subject to tilt his or her head back slightly, close his or her eyes, and estimate 30 seconds. The goal of the Modified Romberg Balance Test is to check the subject’s internal clock and balance while looking for eye or body tremors.

Is the interrater reliability of the Romberg test good?

Franchignoni et al 1998 Found good interrater reliability in healthy woman aged 55-71: Inter-rater reliability: eyes open 0.99, eyes closed 0.99 Karapolat et al 2010: In people with unilateral vestibular hypofunction ( n = 33) there is no correlation between the Modified Romberg test and the Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale (ABC )

Can a vestibular lesion cause a deficit on the Romberg test?

Although a patient with an acute peripheral vestibular lesion is usually inclined to move towards the side of the problem, it has been shown that chronic vestibular damage (at least partial compensation) does not produce deficits in the standard Romberg test.

Is there a difference between men and women on the Romberg test?

This can help to quantify ataxia. Subject, sex, and age do not create a statistically significant difference between normal subjects between the ages of 20 and 49 years; only the Romberg sharpened test with eyes open provided a significant difference (p< 0.05) between men and women.

What are the directions for the Romberg test?

Directions: Four maneuvers comprise these tests Romberg o 1) Feet together, eyes open, 60 sec (R-EO) o 2) Feet together, eyes closed, 60 sec. (R-EC) Sharpened Romberg o 1) Feet heel-to-toe (dominant foot behind non-dominant foot), eyes open, 60 sec. (SR-EO)