The reliability of knee joint position testing using electrogoniometry

Pagamas Piriyaprasarth, Meg E. Morris, Adele Winter, Andrea Bialocerkowski

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

    69 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Background: The current investigation examined the inter- and intra-tester reliability of knee joint angle measurements using a flexible Penny and Giles Biometric® electrogoniometer. The clinical utility of electrogoniometry was also addressed. Methods: The first study examined the inter- and intra-tester reliability of measurements of knee joint angles in supine, sitting and standing in 35 healthy adults. The second study evaluated intertester and intra-tester reliability of knee joint angle measurements in standing and after walking 10 metres in 20 healthy adults, using an enhanced measurement protocol with a more detailed electrogoniometer attachment procedure. Both inter-tester reliability studies involved two testers. Results: In the first study, inter-tester reliability (ICC[2,10]) ranged from 0.58–0.71 in supine, 0.68–0.79 in sitting and 0.57–0.80 in standing. The standard error of measurement between testers was less than 3.55° and the limits of agreement ranged from -12.51° to 12.21°. Reliability coefficients for intra-tester reliability (ICC[3,10]) ranged from 0.75–0.76 in supine, 0.86–0.87 in sitting and 0.87–0.88 in standing. The standard error of measurement for repeated measures by the same tester was less than 1.7° and the limits of agreement ranged from -8.13° to 7.90°. The second study showed that using a more detailed electrogoniometer attachment protocol reduced the error of measurement between testers to 0.5°. Conclusion: Using a standardised protocol, reliable measures of knee joint angles can be gained in standing, supine and sitting by using a flexible goniometer.
    Original languageEnglish
    Number of pages10
    JournalBMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
    Publication statusPublished - 2008

    Open Access - Access Right Statement

    © 2008 Piriyaprasarth et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

    Keywords

    • Australia
    • electrogoniometry
    • flexible
    • goniometer
    • knee joint
    • public health

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