The Reliability Of Three Isokinetic Knee-extension Angle-specific Torques

Abstract

To determine the reliability of concentric quadriceps muscle torque at 30 degrees , 60 degrees , and 75 degrees of knee extension, 25 female university students were studied. Each subject was tested on the Kin-Com isokinetic dynamometer on 2 separate days, 7 days apart. The dynamometer's speed was set at 60 degrees ls. Intraclass correlation coefficients for 30 degrees , 60 degrees , and 75 degrees were 0.84 (p<.01), 0.87 (p<.01), and 0.83(p<.01), respectively. The standard errors of the measure were 5.92 N.m, 7.65 N.m, and 7.35 N.m, respectively. Based on the instrumentation and protocol used in this study, we believe angle-specific torques have good reliability. Because of the error size, clinicians using similar methodology to determine angle-specific torques should be cautious when comparing differences between angle-specific torques of less than 12 to 16 N.m.