Intra- and inter-examiner reliability of goniometer and inclinometer use in Craig's test

Abstract

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to determine the inter- and intra-examiner reliability of measurement methods for femoral anterversion during Craig's test. [Subjects and Methods] The study included 37 healthy participants (20 males and 17 females). Two novice examiners (Department of Physical Therapy students at Silla University) used three different methods to measure the femoral anterversion during Craig's test: a goniometer, a goniometer with a laser beam, and an inclinometer. [Results] The intra-examiner reliability was high for both examiners with all three measurement methods, with scores of 0.82, 0.86, and 0.73 for examiner 1 and 0.74, 0.78, and 0.72 for examiner 2 for the goniometer, goniometer with the laser beam, and inclinometer, respectively. The inter-examiner reliability during Craig's test was below moderate for both the goniometer (0.25) and inclinometer (0.27) and moderate for the goniometer with the laser beam (0.62). [Conclusion] This study found that Craig's test using a goniometer with a laser beam had high intra-examiner reliability and moderate inter-examiner reliability. Clinically, these findings may supplement existing measurement skills and reduce the difficulty of locating the goniometer axis during Craig's test.

Keywords: Craig’s test; Goniometer with a laser; Inclinometer.