[Interrater Reliability of the Single Leg Pick-Up Test for Evaluating Postural Control and Movement Control of the Lumbar Spine and Lower Extremity].

BACKGROUND

Patellofemoral pain syndrome is not really a diagnosis but rather describes the symptoms of this non-traumatic knee joint disease. Decreased movement control of the entire leg is discussed as a reason for the developing pain. Assessments of movement control include functional performance tests. A test to assess postural control and movement control of the foot, knee, hip and lumbar spine is the "Single Leg Pick-Up Test". The aim of the present study is to evaluate the interrater reliability of this test. Subjects/Material and Methods: 56 healthy subjects and three experienced raters participated in the study to assess the interrater reliability. Live rating and video rating were assessed and compared by pairs.

RESULTS

Intraclass correlations of the reached scores ranged from good to excellent (ICCunjust 0.72/0.63/0.85). Kappa and PABAK calculations of the observation criteria reached moderate to good values. The Ø PABAK for all observation criteria was 0.70/0.69/0.80 for the paired comparison of the raters. The agreement of six of seven observation criteria based on PABAK calculations were good to very good for the pairs of raters.

CONCLUSIONS

All motor control deficits present in patellofemoral pain syndrome can be observed by the "Single Leg Pick-Up Test" with substantial reliability. Future studies should confirm reliability and further evaluate discriminative validity of the test. The "Single Leg Pick-Up" can be carried out easily and has the potential to assess patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome and healthy athletes for movement control deficits.