Reliability assessment of isometric knee extension measurements with a computer-assisted hand-held dynamometer.

OBJECTIVE

To assess clinically relevant indexes of measurement error of hand-held dynamometer measurements using a computer-assisted hand-held dynamometer (CAHN-DY).

DESIGN

In separate sessions, different physical therapists performed repeated measurements of maximal isometric knee extension.

SETTING

Four physical therapy practices and outpatient departments.

PATIENTS

Consecutive samples of 30 male and 28 female patients aged 13 to 77 years, with isolated orthopedic knee disorders participated in this study.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

For intrarater and interrater applications, the standard error of measurement (SEM) and related 95% confidence intervals and minimal detectable changes were assessed.

RESULTS

Sixty percent of the patients performed within the therapist's upper force limit. Variance between sessions performed by the same or different therapists accounted for a large percentage of the measurement error (70% to 81%). For single measurements, the standard error of measurement was assessed not to exceed 10N x m. Minimal detectable changes for different designs varied from 13.8 to 28.2N x m.

CONCLUSIONS

The CAHN-DY facilitated standardization of test performance in a satisfactory manner, resulting in less measurement error compared with simple hand-held dynamometry.