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Accuracy and reliability of knee goniometry methods

BACKGROUND: Measuring knee range of motion is important in examination and as a post-operative outcome. It is therefore important that measurements are accurate. Knee angles can be measured by traditional goniometers, smartphone apps are readily available and there are also purpose made digital devi...

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Autores principales: Hancock, Graeme Ethan, Hepworth, Tracey, Wembridge, Kevin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6195503/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30341552
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40634-018-0161-5
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author Hancock, Graeme Ethan
Hepworth, Tracey
Wembridge, Kevin
author_facet Hancock, Graeme Ethan
Hepworth, Tracey
Wembridge, Kevin
author_sort Hancock, Graeme Ethan
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Measuring knee range of motion is important in examination and as a post-operative outcome. It is therefore important that measurements are accurate. Knee angles can be measured by traditional goniometers, smartphone apps are readily available and there are also purpose made digital devices. Establishing the minimum difference between methods is essential to monitor change. The purpose of this study was to assess reliability and minimum significant difference of visual estimation, short and long arm goniometers, a smartphone application and a digital inclinometer. METHODS: Knee angles were assessed by 3 users: one consultant orthopaedic surgeon, one orthopaedic surgical trainee and an experienced physiotherapist. All 5 methods were used to assess 3 knee angles, plus full active flexion and extension, on 6 knees. The subjects had knee angles fixed using limb supports during measurement, whilst maintaining appropriate clearance to allow a reproduction of assessment in clinic. Users were then blinded to their results and the test was repeated. A total of 300 measurements were taken. RESULTS: Inter-rater and intra-rater reliabilities were high for all methods (all > 0.99 and > 0.98 respectively). The digital inclinometer was the most accurate method of assessment (6° minimum significant difference). The long arm goniometer had a minimum significant different of 10°, smartphone app 12° and both visual estimation and short arm goniometry were found to be equally inaccurate (14° minimum significant difference). CONCLUSION: The digital inclinometer was the most accurate method of knee angle measurement, followed by the long arm goniometer. Visual estimation and short goniometers should not be used if an accurate assessment is required.
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spelling pubmed-61955032018-11-02 Accuracy and reliability of knee goniometry methods Hancock, Graeme Ethan Hepworth, Tracey Wembridge, Kevin J Exp Orthop Research BACKGROUND: Measuring knee range of motion is important in examination and as a post-operative outcome. It is therefore important that measurements are accurate. Knee angles can be measured by traditional goniometers, smartphone apps are readily available and there are also purpose made digital devices. Establishing the minimum difference between methods is essential to monitor change. The purpose of this study was to assess reliability and minimum significant difference of visual estimation, short and long arm goniometers, a smartphone application and a digital inclinometer. METHODS: Knee angles were assessed by 3 users: one consultant orthopaedic surgeon, one orthopaedic surgical trainee and an experienced physiotherapist. All 5 methods were used to assess 3 knee angles, plus full active flexion and extension, on 6 knees. The subjects had knee angles fixed using limb supports during measurement, whilst maintaining appropriate clearance to allow a reproduction of assessment in clinic. Users were then blinded to their results and the test was repeated. A total of 300 measurements were taken. RESULTS: Inter-rater and intra-rater reliabilities were high for all methods (all > 0.99 and > 0.98 respectively). The digital inclinometer was the most accurate method of assessment (6° minimum significant difference). The long arm goniometer had a minimum significant different of 10°, smartphone app 12° and both visual estimation and short arm goniometry were found to be equally inaccurate (14° minimum significant difference). CONCLUSION: The digital inclinometer was the most accurate method of knee angle measurement, followed by the long arm goniometer. Visual estimation and short goniometers should not be used if an accurate assessment is required. Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2018-10-19 /pmc/articles/PMC6195503/ /pubmed/30341552 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40634-018-0161-5 Text en © The Author(s). 2018 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
spellingShingle Research
Hancock, Graeme Ethan
Hepworth, Tracey
Wembridge, Kevin
Accuracy and reliability of knee goniometry methods
title Accuracy and reliability of knee goniometry methods
title_full Accuracy and reliability of knee goniometry methods
title_fullStr Accuracy and reliability of knee goniometry methods
title_full_unstemmed Accuracy and reliability of knee goniometry methods
title_short Accuracy and reliability of knee goniometry methods
title_sort accuracy and reliability of knee goniometry methods
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6195503/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30341552
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40634-018-0161-5
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