Introducing VALD Norms

Norms: integrated normative data are now available in VALD Hub for ForceDecks, DynaMo (strength tests), NordBord and ForceFrame. We have also put Norms right where you perform your testing, with in-app Norms now available directly in the DynaMo, NordBord and ForceFrame apps. Norms will continue to roll out across most VALD products’ datasets in the coming months.  

Norms are another significant milestone on our journey to provide intuitive, actionable insights to our clients and improve outcomes in all settings: healthcare, performance, defense and more. 

By embedding normative data within VALD Hub and our mobile apps, we are able to offer a more comprehensive and context-rich framework for evaluating an individual’s data. 

Our clients have recorded tens of millions of tests on over two million individuals from a myriad of demographics, giving us a rich dataset from which to generate accurate and reliable Norms.

Since the launch of our first product, we have provided normative data to our clients – first in manual reports, then in interactive online reports and now integrated into VALD Hub reports and VALD mobile apps. Over the years, time and time again, we have been reminded of how important normative data is for providing context, enabling communication and informing decision-making.

By embedding normative data within VALD Hub and our mobile apps, we are able to offer a more comprehensive and context-rich framework for evaluating your patients’, athletes’ and personnel’s data.  

Norms are not intended to simply add another layer of data; they enrich the analytical capabilities of our clients, providing them with a deeper understanding of each of the performances of the individuals they work with in relation to their peers. 

VALD’s Data Cleansing Process: Delivering data you can trust

When we provide Norms to our clients, we know that this comes with a responsibility to ensure it is accurate and reliable. We understand that inaccurate data is potentially worse than no data at all.

We understand that inaccurate data is potentially worse than no data at all.

We are committed to providing our users with normative data that is not only comprehensive but also meticulously validated and – of course – anonymized, private and secure.

In order to ensure Norms are as clean, accurate and reliable as possible, data from the VALD Data Lakehouse (our database of tens of millions of de-identified data points) goes through a rigorous filtering process. This process removes junk data, sifts out data that is missing context and delivers a dataset that is highly representative of the underlying population. 

…we know that we are getting clean, accurate Norms based on hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of similar individuals in each demographic.  

As the diagram above illustrates, the data cleansing process results in a dataset that is smaller than the original one that enters the funnel. However, with millions of data points to work with, we know that we are getting clean, accurate Norms based on hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of similar individuals in each demographic. 

How do VALD Norms work? 

If you are a ForceDecks, DynaMo, NordBord or ForceFrame user, VALD Norms are already enabled and waiting for you in VALD Hub. You can also access in-app Norms for DynaMo, NordBord and ForceFrame, allowing you to instantly compare an individual’s results to their age and sex demographic right after testing. Norms are enabled for almost every metric and age group for both males and females across most tests on these systems.  

Norms are enabled for almost every metric and age group for both males and females across most tests on [ForceDecks, DynaMo, NordBord and ForceFrame]. 

When you conduct a test and review the results in an individual's profile in VALD Hub, you will now notice new normative data elements integrated into dashboard tiles, which use data matched to the age and sex of the individual.   

In addition to VALD Hub, in-app Norms for DynaMo, NordBord and ForceFrame provide instant access to normative comparisons right after testing. This feature allows you to view the individual’s results against demographic data in real-time, offering immediate insights and streamlining the decision-making process. 

This ensures that you always have the most relevant benchmarks exactly where you need them – overlaid directly on your patient’s or athlete’s data.  

When you conduct a test and review the results in an individual's profile, you will now notice new normative data elements integrated into dashboard tiles… 

For instance, a 30-year-old male client's jump test performance will be directly compared to the normative range of his demographic, which is based on data from thousands of other 30-year-old males. 

Similarly, DynaMo, NordBord and ForceFrame users can compare strength test results against the normative range for their patient’s demographic, providing a clear benchmark for assessing muscle strength relative to their peers. This reference point helps users immediately understand the context of an individual’s current performance. 

Not just that, the individual’s historical data can be compared, over time, with Norms for their demographic, helping to visualize their progress across multiple sessions.   

Longitudinal Tracking: Measure the impact over time  

While having context of results within a session is important, arguably, it is more meaningful to track these results over time.  

So, in addition to showing normative data results for a given test, they can also be tracked in VALD Hub and in-app over time between sessions.  

Interpreting Percentile Ranges

Overlaid on each result is a shaded percentile range (25^th to 75^th percentiles), providing an easy-to-understand visual and statistical representation of how the individual’s performance compares to their peers.

Overlaid on each result is a shaded percentile range (25^th to 75^th percentiles), providing an easy-to-understand visual and statistical representation of how the individual’s performance compares to their peers.  

This helps in setting realistic goals and expectations based on large-scale, reliable population-level data, which is particularly useful in health and rehabilitation settings where the aim is often to return to or maintain “normal” functional levels.    

Learn more about interpreting normative data.

Putting Norms into Practice

In practical terms, this means that during a session, you can quickly identify how an individual’s performance measures up and make informed decisions on the spot.  

For instance, if their score falls below the 25^th percentile, it might prompt a discussion about a targeted exercise intervention. Conversely, if their score is above the 75^th percentile, it may indicate promising rehabilitation progress or that the treatment or exercise program can shift focus to other areas of deficiency. 

As with all VALD data, VALD Norms do not make predictions or decisions for our clients, nor do they replace their clinical intuition… They are simply intended to provide our clients with more context… 

As with all VALD data, VALD Norms do not make predictions or decisions for our clients, nor do they replace their clinical intuition or provide guidance on diagnoses, prognoses or treatment decisions.  

They are simply intended to provide our clients – highly trained and skilled practitioners – with more context, more convenience and more powerful tools to help serve their patients, athletes and personnel better. 

Facilitating Meaningful Conversations

Norms are an excellent new way to facilitate conversations with your patients, clients or athletes. They provide a visual and tangible point of reference for discussions about their health, performance and progress. This makes Norms a powerful tool in increasing motivation and engagement during a health, performance or rehabilitation journey.  

Norms are now even included in VALD Hub's printable reports.

What is next for Norms?

We are extremely excited to make Norms for ForceDecks, DynaMo, NordBord and ForceFrame available to our clients around the world, particularly given that Norms would not be possible without them.

Norms will continue to expand to leverage millions of data points from other VALD systems, plus more demographics, more granularity and more powerful datasets over time.  

At VALD, we are extremely passionate about Norms and data, so if you want to learn more, we would love to chat.