Reliability of the figure-of-eight method of ankle measurement.

Physical therapists need a reliable method by which to measure ankle girth following injury so that there can be clinical quantification of the volume of edema. The purpose of this study was to examine the intratester and intertester reliability of the ankle figure-of-eight method for the measurement of ankle size. Fifty healthy subjects were positioned on a plinth in a long sitting position. Four measurements were made by each of the three testers for a total of 12 measurements per subject. The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.99 for intertester reliability and 0.99 for intratester reliability. These results support the use of the ankle figure-of-eight method as a reliable tool for measuring ankle girth.