Reliability of measurement of maximum voluntary isometric contractions of hip muscles with strength of trunk fixation by a hand-held dynamometrer

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to verify the reliability of measurement of maximum voluntary isometric contractions of the hip muscles with strength of trunk fixation by a hand-held dynamometry. Subjects: In this study, 10 healthy subjects (10 men: age range, 19-23 y, 20 lower extremities) participated after giving their informed consent. Methods: Measures of peak isometric strength were obtained for hip muscles by 2 investigators by using the original anchoring station and fixation by the subjects. To maintain a measurement posture, we instructed to subjects by oral. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) were used to determine reliability. Results: Intra-rater ICC (1, 1) were 0.76 (hip flexors), 0.92 (hip extensors), 0.90 (hip abductors), 0.96 (hip adductors), 0.81 (hip external rotators), 0.88 (hip internal rotators). Inter-rater ICC (2, 1) were 0.88 (hip flexors), 0.93 (hip extensors), 0.90 (hip abductors), 0.97 (hip adductors), 0.76 (hip external rotators), 0.86 (hip internal rotators). Conclusion: These results show that this study protocol can be performed clinically with good to excellent reliability.