Inter-rater reliability of a portable ultrasound for the quadriceps and hamstrings thickness measurement in healthy adults

초록

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the inter-rater reliability of a portable ultrasound device for measuring the muscle thickness of the quadriceps and hamstrings in healthy subjects. METHODS: Thirty-six subjects (20 males, 16 females, age 22.2±2.0 years, mass 67.4±11.3 kg, height 171.7±9.6 cm) participated as subjects and two examiners attended. The thickness of the quadriceps was measured in order of rectus femoris (RF), vastus intermedius (VI), vastus lateralis (VL), vastus medialis (VM), and vastus medialis oblique (VMO). The hamstring thickness was measured in order of biceps femoris (BF), semitendinosus (ST), and semimembranosus (SM). Three measurements were taken for each muscle by one examiner. Using image J software, the average thickness was calculated from the measured image. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used in order to identify inter-rater reliability, and the statistical significance level was set to p<.05. RESULTS: Pearson correlation coefficient for inter-examiner reliability of ultrasound showed moderate-to-high level for all assessed muscle. In quadriceps, the values were significantly correlated ranged from 0.62 to 0.90 and in hamstrings the value were relatively low with values of 0.57 to 0.68. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study indicated that portable ultrasound was a reliable method for measuring the quadriceps and hamstring muscle thickness. Therefore, it could be used as a useful assessment tool in future studies to assess various skeletal muscle thicknesses. © 2020 Korean Society of Exercise Physiology.

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