Wilson-Smith Ashley R, Muralidaran Saimurooban, Maharaj Monish, Pelletier Matthew H, Beshara Peter, Rao Prashanth, Pearce Louise M, Wang Tian, Mobbs Ralph J, Walsh William R
Surgical and Orthopaedic Research Laboratories (SORL), UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia.
J Spine Surg. 2022 Mar;8(1):93-102. doi: 10.21037/jss-21-92.
Cervical spine range of motion (ROM) assessment has long been carried out via use of the universal goniometer (UG) as an objective tool in the evaluation of patient rehabilitation pre- and post-operatively. The advent of novel ROM assessment technology, such as HALO digital goniometer (DG), presents an avenue for research and potential application within clinical and surgical settings. The objective of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the HALO DG in the assessment of the active ROM of the cervical spine.
One hundred healthy subjects were recruited for the study and were split into two groups to be assessed by either physiotherapists or medical students. The methodology for cervical spine ROM assessment was carried out per the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) guidelines. The reliability analysis was completed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25, calculating the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) to determine both the intra- and inter-rater reliability of the device.
Inter-rater reliability within the physiotherapist cohort with the DG (ICCr =0.477, 0.718, 0.551) was higher compared to the UG (ICCr =0.380, 0.510, 0.255) for active cervical flexion, lateral flexion, and rotation, respectively. The UG (ICCr =0.819) showed better reliability versus the DG (ICCr =0.780) when assessing cervical extension. Similarly, in the medical student cohort, the DG outperformed the UG in all movement except cervical lateral flexion. When assessing for intra-rater reliability, the DG (ICCm =0.507, 0.773, 0.728, 0.691) performed better than the UG (ICCm =0.487, 0.529, 0.532, 0.585) in cervical flexion, extension, lateral flexion, and rotation, respectively.
The present validation study identified the DG as a reliable substitute for the UG.
长期以来，颈椎活动度（ROM）评估一直通过使用通用角度计（UG）作为术前和术后患者康复评估的客观工具来进行。新型ROM评估技术的出现，如HALO数字角度计（DG），为临床和手术环境中的研究及潜在应用提供了一条途径。本研究的目的是检验HALO DG在评估颈椎主动活动度方面的可靠性和有效性。
招募了100名健康受试者参与本研究，并将他们分为两组，分别由物理治疗师或医学生进行评估。颈椎ROM评估方法按照美国骨科医师协会（AAOS）指南进行。使用IBM SPSS Statistics 25完成可靠性分析，计算组内相关系数（ICC）以确定该设备的评分者内和评分者间可靠性。
在物理治疗师队列中，DG在颈椎主动前屈、侧屈和旋转时的评分者间可靠性（ICCr分别为0.477、0.718、0.551）高于UG（ICCr分别为0.380、0.510、0.255）。在评估颈椎后伸时，UG（ICCr =0.819）的可靠性优于DG（ICCr =0.780）。同样，在医学生队列中，除颈椎侧屈外，DG在所有运动中均优于UG。在评估评分者内可靠性时，DG在颈椎前屈、后伸、侧屈和旋转时的表现（ICCm分别为0.507、0.773、0.728、0.691）优于UG（ICCm分别为0.487、0.529、0.532、0.585）。
本验证研究确定DG是UG的可靠替代品。
