RELIABILITY AND ACCURACY OF JOINT POSITION SENSE MEASUREMENT IN THE LABORATORY AND CLINIC; UTILISING A NEW SYSTEM

Abstract

Measurement of the joint angles is used to assess the joint position sense (JPS). The aim of this study was to introduce a simple, fast, less expensive and objective method of measurement for JPS. In the current research, the accuracy and reliability of a system, consist of digital photography, nonreflective markers and manual analysis were evaluated. For this purpose, digital photos were taken from 72 angles of the knee positions of twenty four healthy subjects. The angles were measured by using transparent sheets and goniometers as manual method. AutoCAD software was used to evaluate the accuracy of the manual results. The values of Pearson correlation coefficient (r), and intraclass correlation coefficients were used to establish reliability. It was noted that the AutoCAD measurements, as a new system, was reliable and precise enough so it could be utilised for evaluating the JPS.