Reliability of peroneal reaction time measurements.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the reliability of reaction time-measurements on a tilting platform under consideration of various influencing factors.


METHODS
The peroneal reaction time of 30 healthy subjects was examined in an experimental study.


BACKGROUND
Peroneal reaction time measurements have been used to objectively evaluate functional instability of the ankle joint, but the reliability of the method has not been proven yet.


METHODS
The reaction time after sudden inversion of the ankle were determined by surface EMG.


RESULTS
The median latency of the peroneus brevis was 66 ms and that of the peroneus longus was 63 ms. No differences between male and female subjects and between left and right legs could be found. An increase of reaction time was caused by neuromuscular fatigue (P=0.033, for both the peroneus brevis and the peroneus longus). A decrease in reaction time resulted if the foot was held in 15 degrees of plantar flexion (P=0.0004 for the peroneus brevis, P=0.002 for the peroneus longus). The reliability was examined by circadian and by day-to-day measurements. The coefficient of correlation (Spearman's rho) between the peroneus brevis and days 1-5 was 0.67 (P=0.177) and for the peroneus longus 0. 00 (P0.999). The same results were obtained after the circadian measurements.


CONCLUSIONS
Determination of peroneal reaction time was proven as a reliable measurement method.


CONCLUSIONS
Reliability and validity are basic preconditions of a test to become accepted as a clinical measurement method. This paper demonstrates the reliability of measuring the peroneal reaction time. Thus, assuming validity, the peroneal reaction time measurement is justified as a clinical test.
Benesch
S
S
Department of Surgery of the Military Hospital, Ulm, Germany. stefan.benesch@extern.uni-ulm.de
Pütz
W
W
Rosenbaum
D
D
Becker
H
H
D000328:Adult; D000843:Ankle Joint / Q000502:physiology*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric