The development and reliability of a simple field based screening tool to assess core stability in athletes.
OBJECTIVE
To adapt the trunk stability test to facilitate further sub-classification of higher levels of core stability in athletes for use as a screening tool. To establish the inter-tester and intra-tester reliability of this adapted core stability test.


METHODS
Reliability study.


METHODS
Collegiate athletic therapy facilities.


METHODS
Fifteen physically active male subjects (19.46 ± 0.63) free from any orthopaedic or neurological disorders were recruited from a convenience sample of collegiate students.


METHODS
The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) were computed to establish inter-tester and intra-tester reliability.


RESULTS
Excellent ICC values were observed in the adapted core stability test for inter-tester reliability (0.97) and good to excellent intra-tester reliability (0.73-0.90). While the 95% CI were narrow for inter-tester reliability, Tester A and C 95% CI's were widely distributed compared to Tester B.


CONCLUSIONS
The adapted core stability test developed in this study is a quick and simple field based test to administer that can further subdivide athletes with high levels of core stability. The test demonstrated high inter-tester and intra-tester reliability.
Department of Life and Physical Science, Athlone Institute of Technology, Ireland; School of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, Ireland. Electronic address: soconnor@ait.ie.
S
S
O'Connor
School of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, Ireland. Electronic address: noel.mccaffrey@dcu.ie.
N
N
McCaffrey
School of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, Ireland. Electronic address: enda.whyte@dcu.ie.
E
E
Whyte
School of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, Ireland. Electronic address: kieran.moran@dcu.ie.
K
K
Moran
D056352:Athletes; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013909:Thorax / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
Inter-tester reliability; Intra-tester reliability; Pre-participation screening; Trunk stability push up test