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An in-depth discussion of the areas within the posturography literature that are in need of further exploration, standardization, and consensus, of which there are many, falls outside the scope of this chapter. However, recent advances within posturography cannot be explored as a topic without acknowledging the need to fill the many gaps within the literature. Comprehensive reviews of these issues have been published in recent years [26, 27].

Concerns about the validity and reliability of the various applications of posturographic measurements have been raised consistently over the years. The approaches and analysis techniques that exist for posturography vary widely [28] and further complicate attempts to find agreement within the literature. There is little consensus regarding the best approaches for assessment or interpretation [26]. Recent publications have also identified an assortment of factors that may significantly impact findings based on posturographic testing, including the instructions given to the patient prior to testing [29], the patient’s stance [30], stability of the platform for CDP [31], the type of balance pad used [32], and the time of day the testing takes place [33]. While most of these factors are likely to stay reasonably stable across time for an individual patient, or even for all patients within a given center, these findings emphasize that even subtle factors may further hamper our ability to make comparisons between studies.

Posturography has not yet been shown to be effective as a diagnostic tool for any disorder, including disorders of balance; the results are non-localizing and there is significant overlap between the results of patients with normal and abnormal vestibular functions [34, 35]. Of the investigations that have looked at posturography for diagnosis, most are retrospective and do not include calculations of sensitivity and specificity [27]. Work is needed to better separate abnormal populations from normal controls if posturography is to be used for diagnostic purposes in the future.

A search of the Pubmed database using the term “posturography” reveals that mentions of posturography have tripled in the past 5 years compared with the previous 5 years. While caution is required when determining the dependence on posturographic results until there is more agreement within the literature, there is hope that continued research efforts will answer some important questions related to posturography and will lead to the standardization of approaches and analysis techniques.