title: Measurement of craniovertebral angle by the Modified Head Posture Spinal Curvature Instrument: A reliability and validity study.
abstract: The Modified Head Posture Spinal Curvature Instrument (MHPSCI) is an extension of the Head Posture Spinal Curvature Instrument. Two specific modifications were made in the original design by adding a third arm projecting horizontally from the protractor to objectively fix the pivot exactly over the C7 vertebra and the addition of a spirit-level to properly align the instrument. In order to demonstrate reliability and validity, this study was conducted using patients with postural neck pain (N = 65) and healthy subjects (N = 20). All the subjects were working at a selected Information Technology Industry in India and had been recruited using a criterion-based sampling approach. The craniovertebral (CV) angle of each subject was evaluated by two raters consecutively. The measurements were taken by using both MHPSCI and the standard photographic method in a standardized sitting posture for the purpose of establishing criterion-validity of the instrument. The results of this study indicate a good inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.76; CI = 0.65-0.84) as well as intra-rater reliability (ICC = 0.87; CI = 0.82-0.91) between three successive CV angle measurements (with 2 minutes interval between each measurement) through MHPSCI. While keeping the digital photographic measurement as a standard, this study established that the MHPSCI is a valid tool for measuring the CV angle as shown by non-significant difference (p > 0.01) and high correlation between the two methods (r = 0.79-0.84). This study demonstrates that the MHPSCI is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring CV angle in subjects with or without postural neck pain.
authors.affiliation: a Quality Studies and Research Unit, Deanship of Quality and Academic Accreditation, University of Dammam , Dammam , Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Arun Vijay
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Subbarayalu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019719:Diagnostic Equipment; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015588:Observer Variation; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011187:Posture; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012886:Skull / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013121:Spinal Curvatures / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Craniovertebral angle; neck pain; posture; reliability; validity