title: Reliability of ultrasound thickness measurement of the abdominal muscles during clinical isometric endurance tests.
abstract: The study was designed to evaluate the intra-examiner reliability of ultrasound (US) thickness measurement of abdominal muscles activity when supine lying and during two isometric endurance tests in subjects with and without Low back pain (LBP). A total of 19 women (9 with LBP, 10 without LBP) participated in the study. Within-day reliability of the US thickness measurements at supine lying and the two isometric endurance tests were assessed in all subjects. The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess the relative reliability of thickness measurement. The standard error of measurement (SEM), minimal detectable change (MDC) and the coefficient of variation (CV) were used to evaluate the absolute reliability. Results indicated high ICC scores (0.73-0.99) and also small SEM and MDC scores for within-day reliability assessment. The Bland-Altman plots of agreement in US measurement of the abdominal muscles during the two isometric endurance tests demonstrated that 95% of the observations fall between the limits of agreement for test and retest measurements. Together the results indicate high intra-tester reliability for the US measurement of the thickness of abdominal muscles in all the positions tested. According to the study's findings, US imaging can be used as a reliable method for assessment of abdominal muscles activity in supine lying and the two isometric endurance tests employed, in participants with and without LBP.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Evin, Koodakyar Avenue, P.O Box 1985713834, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: shabnamshahali@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Shabnam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: ShahAli
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Evin, Koodakyar Avenue, P.O Box 1985713834, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: ara.physio@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Amir Massoud
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Arab
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Faculty, Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Talebian
authors.affiliation: Rehabilitation Faculty, Iran Medical Sciences University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Esmaeil
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ebrahimi
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Evin, Koodakyar Avenue, P.O Box 1985713834, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Andia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bahmani
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Evin, Koodakyar Avenue, P.O Box 1985713834, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Noureddin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Karimi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomechanics and Sport Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hoda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nabavi
mesh_terms: D000009:Abdominal Muscles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000502:physiology; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007537:Isometric Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D015588:Observer Variation; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014463:Ultrasonography
keywords: Abdominal muscles; Physical endurance; Reliability; Ultrasound