Reliability of Clinical Measurements of Forward Bending Obtained by the Use of the Modified Fingertip-to-Floor Method.

摘要

The purpose of this study was to examine the intra and inter-tester reliability of measurements obtained using a modified version of the fingertip-to-floor (FTF) method of assessing forward bending. With the modified FTF (MFTF) method patients stand on a stool and forward bend so that measurements can be taken on patients who are able to reach beyond the floor. In this study randomly paired physical therapists took repeated MFTF measurements on 73 patients with low back pain. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated for intra and inter-tester reliability. The ICC value for intra-tester reliability was 0.98 and the ICC value for inter-tester reliability was 0.95. The results of this study suggest that measurements of forward bending obtained on patients with low back pain using the MFTF method are highly reliable. Theses. (jhd)