Association Between the Fukuda Stepping Test and Foulage Test Parameters in Healthy Adults and Patients With Ménière’s Disease

Background: The Foulage test is a stabilometer-based dynamic equilibrium assessment that enables quantitative evaluation of postural instability during stepping-like movement. However, its relationship with the conventional Fukuda stepping test (also known as the Unterberger stepping test) has not been fully clarified. Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the association between parameters obtained from the Fukuda stepping test and those obtained from the Foulage test in healthy adults and patients with Ménière’s disease during the interictal period. Methods: This observational pilot study included 15 healthy adults and 15 patients with definite Ménière’s disease evaluated at the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Osaka Metropolitan University, between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024. All participants underwent the Fukuda stepping test and the Foulage test under eyes-closed conditions. The migration distance and rotation angle were assessed in the Fukuda stepping test, whereas the FT value and theta value were assessed in the Foulage test. Because the aim of this study was to evaluate the magnitude of instability rather than directional laterality, absolute values were used for directional parameters. Group comparisons were performed using the unpaired t-test, and correlations were evaluated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: Compared with healthy controls, patients with Ménière’s disease showed a significantly greater migration distance (2.02 ± 0.71 vs 0.29 ± 0.08, p < 0.001), rotation angle (22.0 ± 12.8° vs 5.0 ± 5.0°, p < 0.001), FT value (6.03 ± 1.51 vs 4.50 ± 0.60, p = 0.0017), and absolute theta value (15.46 ± 17.08° vs 1.87 ± 1.36°, p = 0.008). The migration distance showed a strong positive correlation with the FT value in both the healthy group (r = 0.872, p < 0.001) and the Ménière’s disease group (r = 0.824, p < 0.001). The rotation angle also showed a strong positive correlation with the absolute theta value in both the healthy group (r = 0.849, p < 0.001) and the Ménière’s disease group (r = 0.779, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Foulage test parameters showed good correspondence with the major parameters of the Fukuda stepping test in both healthy adults and patients with Ménière’s disease during the interictal period. These findings suggest that the Foulage test may serve as a useful quantitative complementary assessment of dynamic equilibrium.