Clinical availability of the deep tendon reflex test using a novel apparatus in healthy subjects.
[Purpose] The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical usefulness of a novel apparatus intended to improve the consistency and reliability of the deep tendon reflex (DTR) test. [Subjects] The participants included 50 healthy adults (25 male and 25 female) between 20 and 31 years of age who showed no knee abnormalities upon physical examination. [Methods] The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to verify inter-rater reliability for two parameters examined in the DTR test using a newly designed apparatus. These parameters were the patellar reflex amplitude and first knee extension angle. Pearson's product correlation coefficient was then used to examine the correlation between these two parameters. [Results] The inter-rater reliability analysis showed a high correlation between the examiners for both DTR parameters (ICCs = 0.91-0.96). In addition, a significant positive correlation was observed between the two parameters (r = 0.91). [Conclusion] The results show that it is possible to use the novel apparatus described herein to obtain reliable results in the DTR test.
Department of Physical Therapy, College of Medical Sciences, Jeonju University: 303 Cheonjam-ro, Wansan-gu, Jeonju, Jeonbuk-do 560-759, Republic of Korea.
Yong-Wook
YW
Kim
Deep tendon reflex; First knee extension angle; Reliability