title: Validation of a method to assess range of motion of the cervical spine using a tape measure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purposes of this study were to validate a tape measure method for measuring cervical spine range of motion compared with a universal goniometer in all planes of motion and to derive equations to convert a linear measurement to an angular distance.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were healthy volunteers. Measurements of flexion/extension, rotation, and lateral flexion were made with the universal goniometer and tape measure, in the neutral position, extreme of motion, and 2 positions between. Measurements from the 2 techniques were compared with Pearson correlation coefficient and simple linear regression to determine R(2), the regression coefficient and the regression equation. Reliability was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 40 participants with a mean age of 30.5 (SD, 9.1) years. Goniometer measurements had good to excellent correlation with both absolute and percentage change in tape measurement (correlation coefficients, 0.74-0.94 and 0.75-0.91, respectively). Correlation was highest for flexion and extension, lowest for rotation and lateral flexion. The amount of variability in the data explained by the linear regression models (R(2)) varied from 55% to 89%. Intraclass correlation coefficient ranged from 0.44 to 0.69 and 0.38 to 0.59 for intrarater and interrater reliability, respectively. Reliability was greatest for flexion and extension, lowest for rotation and lateral flexion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrated that tape measurements correlated well with a universal goniometer. The tape measure may be useful for measuring cervical spine range of motion where availability, simplicity, and low cost are important considerations such as with conduct of research or patient management.
authors.affiliation: Physician, Emergency Department, St George Hospital, Kogarah, NSW, Australia; Conjoint Lecturer, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: stephen.asha@sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au.
authors.forename: Stephen E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Asha
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pryor
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D053587:Arthrometry, Articular / Q000379:methods*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009333:Neck / Q000502:physiology*; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000592:standards; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
keywords: Arthrometry; Articular; Cervical; Neck; Range of Motion; Reproducibility of Results