title: Reliability of five methods for assessing shoulder range of motion.
abstract: In symptomatic subjects, the reliability of tests for shoulder joint range of motion has yet to be determined. For this reason, inter-rater and intra-rater agreement trials were undertaken to ascertain the reliability of visual estimation, goniometry, still photography, "stand and reach" and hand behind back reach for six different shoulder movements. Intra-class correlation coefficients (Rho) were derived by using a random effects model. For flexion, abduction and external rotation fair to good reliability was demonstrated for both trials using visual estimation (Inter-rater Rho = 0.57-0.70; Intra-rater Rho = 0.59-0.67), goniometry (Inter-rater Rho = 0.64-0.69; Intra-rater Rho = 0.53-0.65) and still photography (Inter-rater Rho = 0.62-0.73; Intra-rater Rho = 0.56-0.61). The tests had standard errors of measurement of between 14 and 25 degrees (inter-rater trial) and 11 and 23 degrees (intra-rater trial).
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, St George Hospital, Kogarah, New South Wales 2217.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Walton
authors.forename: Z R
authors.initials: ZR
authors.lastname: Szomor
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Murrell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D010781:Photography; D011187:Posture; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012782:Shoulder / Q000503:physiopathology; D012785:Shoulder Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*