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. 2005 Dec 13:6:59.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2474-6-59.

Reproducibility of cervical range of motion in patients with neck pain

Jan Lucas Hoving  1 , Jan J M Pool, Henk van Mameren, Walter J L M Devillé, Willem J J Assendelft, Henrica C W de Vet, Andrea F de Winter, Bart W Koes, Lex M Bouter
Affiliations

Reproducibility of cervical range of motion in patients with neck pain

Jan Lucas Hoving et al. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. .

Abstract

Background: Reproducibility measurements of the range of motion are an important prerequisite for the interpretation of study results. The aim of the study is to assess the intra-rater and inter-rater reproducibility of the measurement of active Range of Motion (ROM) in patients with neck pain using the Cybex Electronic Digital Inclinometer-320 (EDI-320).

Methods: In an outpatient clinic in a primary care setting 32 patients with at least 2 weeks of pain and/or stiffness in the neck were randomly assessed, in a test- retest design with blinded raters using a standardized measurement protocol. Cervical flexion-extension, lateral flexion and rotation were assessed.

Results: Reliability expressed by the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) was 0.93 (lateral flexion) or higher for intra-rater reliability and 0.89 (lateral flexion) or higher for inter-rater reliability. The 95% limits of agreement for intra-rater agreement, expressing the range of the differences between two ratings were -2.5 +/- 11.1 degrees for flexion-extension, -0.1 +/- 10.4 degrees for lateral flexion and -5.9 +/- 13.5 degrees for rotation. For inter-rater agreement the limits of agreement were 3.3 +/- 17.0 degrees for flexion-extension, 0.5 +/- 17.0 degrees for lateral flexion and -1.3 +/- 24.6 degrees for rotation.

Conclusion: In general, the intra-rater reproducibility and the inter-rater reproducibility were good. We recommend to compare the reproducibility and clinical applicability of the EDI-320 inclinometer with other cervical ROM measures in symptomatic patients.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Picture of head position during rotation.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Flow diagram measurements and assessment of intra- and inter-rater reproducibility.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Plotted differences within rater A against the mean value of the first and second measurement for each patient for cervical flexion-extension, lateral flexion and rotation*. * Presented is the line of the mean difference (in the middle) and the limits of agreement (the two dotted outer lines corresponding with the +2 SD's or – 2 SD's of the mean difference between the 1st and 2nd rating by rater A)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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