title: Ultrasonographic measurement of patellar tendon thickness--a study of intra- and interobserver reliability.
abstract: This article determines intra- and intertester reliability and measurement precision of ultrasonographic assessment of patellar tendon (PT) thickness. Eighteen healthy subjects were scanned three times in two sessions with a 45-min interval by two experienced examiners. Reliability and measurement precision were evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficient and limits of agreement. When measuring PT thickness, a mean of two measurements is recommended, and changes larger than 0.07 cm can be considered actual changes and not a result of measurement uncertainty.
authors.affiliation: Orthopaedic Surgery Research Unit, Aalborg University Hospital Denmark; Department of Health Science and Technology, Centre for Sensory-Motor Interaction, Aalborg University, Denmark. Electronic address: sots@rn.dk.
authors.forename: Soren T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Skou
authors.forename: Johanne M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Aalkjaer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D017847:Patellar Ligament / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014463:Ultrasonography; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Knee; Musculoskeletal diseases; Patellar ligament; Reliability; Ultrasonography