Reliability of the Joint Position Sense Error Test for Women With Neck Pain and Asymptomatic Men and Women.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the intra-rater between-days reliability of the joint position sense error (JPSE) test in asymptomatic men and women, as well as in women with neck pain. METHODS: Fourteen asymptomatic men and 27 women (14 asymptomatic and 13 with neck pain) participated. The JPSE test was performed during right and left cervical rotation (10 trials for each side) in 2 sessions, with at least 7 days between them. The head repositioning error during the JPSE test (in degrees) was measured and used to calculate the intra-rater between-days reliability of the test, evaluated through the intraclass correlation coefficient and Bland-Altman analyses. Independent t tests were calculated to compare the head repositioning errors of asymptomatic women and men. The minimal detectable change was also calculated. RESULTS: The neck pain group showed higher intraclass correlation coefficient values (0.866 and 0.773, good reliability) compared to the asymptomatic men (0.478 and 0.403, poor reliability) and to the asymptomatic women (-0.161 and 0.504, poor and moderate reliability, respectively) for both right and left cervical rotation, respectively. Considering Bland-Altman analyses, the neck pain group showed better agreement between the measurements for right cervical rotation than the asymptomatic groups. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the methodology used to perform the JPSE test in this study may be a reliable way to assess the proprioception of women with neck pain in clinical settings.

Inter- and intra-rater reliability of 3D kinematics during maximum mouth opening of asymptomatic subjects.

Previous studies evaluated 3D human jaw movements using kinematic analysis systems during mouth opening, but information on the reliability of such measurements is still scarce. The purpose of this study was to analyze within- and between-session reliabilities, inter-rater reliability, standard error of measurement (SEM), minimum detectable change (MDC) and consistency of agreement across raters and sessions of 3D kinematic variables during maximum mouth opening (MMO). Thirty-six asymptomatic subjects from both genders were evaluated on two different days, five to seven days apart. Subjects performed three MMO movements while kinematic data were collected. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), SEM and MDC were calculated for all variables, and Bland-Altman plots were constructed. Jaw radius and width were the most reproducible variables (ICC>0.81) and demonstrated minor error. Incisor displacement during MMO and angular movements in the sagittal plane presented good reliability (ICC from 0.61 to 0.8) and small errors and, consequently, could be used in future studies with the same methodology and population. The variables with smaller amplitudes (condylar translations during mouth opening and closing and mandibular movements on the frontal and transversal planes) were less reliable (ICC<0.61) and presented larger SEM and MDC. Although ICC, SEM and MDC showed less between-session reproducibility than within-session and inter-rater, the limits of agreement were larger in inter-rater comparisons. In future studies care must be taken with variables collected on different days and with mandibular movements in the frontal and transversal planes.