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Ultrasound Imaging Analysis of the Lumbar Multifidus Muscle Echo Intensity: Intra-Rater and Inter-Rater Reliability of a Novice and an Experienced Rater

Background and Objectives: Ultrasound echo intensity (EI) of the lumbar multifidus muscle (LMM) could offer valuable insights regarding muscle quality in people with low back pain (LBP). However, whether the rater’s experience noticeably influences the reliability and precision of LMM EI measurement...

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Autores principales: Fortin, Maryse, Rosenstein, Brent, Levesque, Jerome, Nandlall, Neil
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8160687/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34065340
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/medicina57050512
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author Fortin, Maryse
Rosenstein, Brent
Levesque, Jerome
Nandlall, Neil
author_facet Fortin, Maryse
Rosenstein, Brent
Levesque, Jerome
Nandlall, Neil
author_sort Fortin, Maryse
collection PubMed
description Background and Objectives: Ultrasound echo intensity (EI) of the lumbar multifidus muscle (LMM) could offer valuable insights regarding muscle quality in people with low back pain (LBP). However, whether the rater’s experience noticeably influences the reliability and precision of LMM EI measurements has not been established. The aims of this study were to investigate the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of LMM EI measurements, and to compare the reliability and SEM between a novice and an experienced rater. Materials and Methods: Twenty athletes (10 females, 10 males) with a history of LBP were included in this study. Transverse ultrasound images of LMM were taken at L5 in prone. LMM EI measurements were obtained bilaterally by tracing the maximum ROI representing the LMM cross-sectional area (CSA), avoiding the inclusion of bone or surrounding fascia. All measurements were performed by two novice raters and an experienced researcher. Each measurement was acquired by each rater three times for each side on three different images, and the average was used in the analyses. Raters were blinded to each other’s measurements and the participant’s clinical information. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) were obtained to assess the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability. Results: The intra-rater ICC values for the LMM measurements for the experienced rater were excellent (ICC all > 0.997). The inter-rater reliability ICC values showed moderate to excellent reliability (0.614 to 0.994) and agreement between the novice raters and the experienced rater, except for Novice 1 for the right LMM, which revealed lower ICCs and a wider 95% CI. Intra-rater and inter-rater reliability results were similar when separately looking at the right and left side of the muscle and participant gender. Conclusions: Our findings support the clinical use of ultrasound imaging for the assessment of LMM EI in individuals with LBP.
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spelling pubmed-81606872021-05-29 Ultrasound Imaging Analysis of the Lumbar Multifidus Muscle Echo Intensity: Intra-Rater and Inter-Rater Reliability of a Novice and an Experienced Rater Fortin, Maryse Rosenstein, Brent Levesque, Jerome Nandlall, Neil Medicina (Kaunas) Article Background and Objectives: Ultrasound echo intensity (EI) of the lumbar multifidus muscle (LMM) could offer valuable insights regarding muscle quality in people with low back pain (LBP). However, whether the rater’s experience noticeably influences the reliability and precision of LMM EI measurements has not been established. The aims of this study were to investigate the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of LMM EI measurements, and to compare the reliability and SEM between a novice and an experienced rater. Materials and Methods: Twenty athletes (10 females, 10 males) with a history of LBP were included in this study. Transverse ultrasound images of LMM were taken at L5 in prone. LMM EI measurements were obtained bilaterally by tracing the maximum ROI representing the LMM cross-sectional area (CSA), avoiding the inclusion of bone or surrounding fascia. All measurements were performed by two novice raters and an experienced researcher. Each measurement was acquired by each rater three times for each side on three different images, and the average was used in the analyses. Raters were blinded to each other’s measurements and the participant’s clinical information. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) were obtained to assess the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability. Results: The intra-rater ICC values for the LMM measurements for the experienced rater were excellent (ICC all > 0.997). The inter-rater reliability ICC values showed moderate to excellent reliability (0.614 to 0.994) and agreement between the novice raters and the experienced rater, except for Novice 1 for the right LMM, which revealed lower ICCs and a wider 95% CI. Intra-rater and inter-rater reliability results were similar when separately looking at the right and left side of the muscle and participant gender. Conclusions: Our findings support the clinical use of ultrasound imaging for the assessment of LMM EI in individuals with LBP. MDPI 2021-05-20 /pmc/articles/PMC8160687/ /pubmed/34065340 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/medicina57050512 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Fortin, Maryse
Rosenstein, Brent
Levesque, Jerome
Nandlall, Neil
Ultrasound Imaging Analysis of the Lumbar Multifidus Muscle Echo Intensity: Intra-Rater and Inter-Rater Reliability of a Novice and an Experienced Rater
title Ultrasound Imaging Analysis of the Lumbar Multifidus Muscle Echo Intensity: Intra-Rater and Inter-Rater Reliability of a Novice and an Experienced Rater
title_full Ultrasound Imaging Analysis of the Lumbar Multifidus Muscle Echo Intensity: Intra-Rater and Inter-Rater Reliability of a Novice and an Experienced Rater
title_fullStr Ultrasound Imaging Analysis of the Lumbar Multifidus Muscle Echo Intensity: Intra-Rater and Inter-Rater Reliability of a Novice and an Experienced Rater
title_full_unstemmed Ultrasound Imaging Analysis of the Lumbar Multifidus Muscle Echo Intensity: Intra-Rater and Inter-Rater Reliability of a Novice and an Experienced Rater
title_short Ultrasound Imaging Analysis of the Lumbar Multifidus Muscle Echo Intensity: Intra-Rater and Inter-Rater Reliability of a Novice and an Experienced Rater
title_sort ultrasound imaging analysis of the lumbar multifidus muscle echo intensity: intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of a novice and an experienced rater
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8160687/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34065340
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/medicina57050512
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