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Thickness of the middle trapezius muscle measured by rehabilitative ultrasound imaging: description of the technique and reliability study
Author(s) -
Bentman Susanna,
O’Sullivan Cliona,
Stokes Maria
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
clinical physiology and functional imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.608
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1475-097X
pISSN - 1475-0961
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-097x.2010.00960.x
Subject(s) - medicine , reliability (semiconductor) , trapezius muscle , asymptomatic , ultrasound , physical therapy , limits of agreement , ultrasound imaging , standard error , sitting , physical medicine and rehabilitation , muscle architecture , nuclear medicine , orthodontics , anatomy , radiology , surgery , electromyography , pathology , power (physics) , statistics , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics
Summary A technique is described for measuring the thickness of the middle trapezius muscle using rehabilitative ultrasound imaging (RUSI). A test–retest study was employed to investigate the reliability of the technique in a convenience sample of 16 asymptomatic participants aged 20–41 (12 women). The middle trapezius muscle was imaged using RUSI with participants in a standardized sitting position. The principal investigator took measurements on two consecutive days to examine intra‐rater reliability, and two additional investigators took measurements on the second day to investigate inter‐rater reliability of the measurement technique. Reliability was examined using intra‐class correlation coefficients (ICC), standard error of measurement (SEM), and Bland and Altman plots. The results demonstrated that inter‐rater reliability was good between raters (ICC 2,3 = 0·81, SEM = 0·94 mm) and was moderate for the same rater between days (ICC 3,2 = 0·67, SEM = 1·0 mm). This study demonstrates that RUSI can be used reliably to measure muscle thickness of the middle trapezius muscle following the procedure described.