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. 2023 Feb 10;13(1):2383.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-29601-0.

Reliability of coracohumeral distance and subcoracoid tendons in subacromial pain syndrome

Claudia Cavaggion  1 , Santiago Navarro-Ledesma  2 , Birgit Juul-Kristensen  3 , Alejandro Luque-Suarez  4   5 , Lennard Voogt  6   7 , Filip Struyf  1
Affiliations

Reliability of coracohumeral distance and subcoracoid tendons in subacromial pain syndrome

Claudia Cavaggion et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

This study investigated the intra-rater reliability of a novice ultrasound (US) examiner and the inter-rater reliability of two examiners (novice, expert) in the measures of coracohumeral distance at rest (CHD) and at 60° of elevation without (CHD60) or with weights (CHD60w), tendon thickness of the long head of the biceps (LHB) and subscapularis (SCP). Twenty-one patients with subacromial pain syndrome (SAPS) and 20 asymptomatic participants were included. Intra and inter-rater reliability were tested with intraclass-correlation-coefficient (ICC), differences between raters were analyzed with Bland-Altman plots. Intra-rater reliability for CHD, CHD60 and CHD60w was excellent (ICC = 0.97-0.98) in asymptomatic participants, and good-to-excellent (0.88-0.93) in SAPS, while intra-rater reliability for LHB and SCP was good-to-excellent in asymptomatic participants (0.88-0.97) and in SAPS (0.90-0.92). Inter-rater reliability for CHD, CHD60 and CHD60w was moderate-to-good (0.70-0.90) in asymptomatic participants and good (0.85-0.87) in SAPS, in contrast inter-rater reliability for LHB and SCP was poor in asymptomatic participants (0.10-0.46) and poor-to-moderate (0.49-0.61) in SAPS. Bland-Altman plots revealed systematic and/or proportional bias for tendons' thickness. A novice showed good-to-excellent intra-rater reliability in all US measures, whereas in comparison to an expert a novice can measure reliably CHD, CHD60 and CHD60w, but not LHB and SCP, where more training is recommended.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Left: position of the probe during the measurement of the coracohumeral distance at rest; right: measurement of coracohumeral distance at rest. Photo on the left side by Anthe Foubert.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Left: position of the probe and of the subject during the measurement of the long head of the biceps tendon thickness; right: measurement of the long head of the biceps tendon thickness. Photo on the left side by Anthe Foubert.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Left: position of the probe and of the subject during the measurement of the subscapularis tendon thickness; right: measurement of the subscapularis tendon thickness. Photo on the left side by Anthe Foubert.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Left: position of the probe and of the subject during the measurement of the coracohumeral distance at 60°; right: measurement of the coracohumeral at 60°. Photo on the left side by Anthe Foubert.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Left: position of the probe and the subject during the measurement of the coracohumeral distance at 60° with weights; right: measurement of the coracohumeral at 60° with weights. Photo on the left side by Anthe Foubert.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Bland–Altman plots for inter-rater reliability. Color of the lines: dashed red line: mean difference, dotted red line: limits of agreement of the mean difference, black line: perfect agreement (difference between A and B = 0). CHD coracohumeral distance, Diff difference, LHB long head of biceps, SAPS subacromial pain syndrome, SCP subscapularis tendon.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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