Dataset Information

Reliability of point-of-care ultrasound for measuring quadriceps femoris muscle thickness.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Point-of-care ultrasound can be used to assess muscle thickness. However, its reliability has not been fully evaluated.

Aim

This study aimed to assess the intrarater and inter-rater reliability of point-of-care ultrasound for the estimation of quadriceps and rectus femoris thickness in patients from a rehabilitation setting.

Design

This is a cross-sectional study.

Setting

This study was conducted at the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation of a tertiary care hospital.

Population

Twenty-nine inpatients consecutively selected after admission.

Methods

Four observers, two trained and two untrained, used point-of-care ultrasound to measure quadriceps femoris and rectus femoris thickness. Each observer performed two measurements followed by a second set of two measurements three hours later. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were then calculated.

Results

Both intrarater and inter-rater ICC were higher than 0.888 for both quadriceps and rectus femoris measurements. Reliability was highest when ICC were calculated based on the average of two measurements, with the intrarater ICC being of 0.956 (95% CI: 0.937-0.970) for rectus femoris and of 0.966 (95% CI: 0.951-0.976) for quadriceps femoris; and with the inter-rater ICC being of 0.919 (95% CI: 0.863-0.957) for rectus femoris and 0.945 (95% CI: 0.907- 0.971) for quadriceps femoris. Trained and untrained observers did not have significantly different ICC values.

Conclusions

These results suggest that point-of-care ultrasound is a reliable option to measure muscle thickness of knee extensors by the same or different observers.

Clinical rehabilitation impact

Measuring knee extensors thickness may aid to adequately modulate treatment choices in patients with disability. This study suggests that quadriceps and rectus femoris muscle thickness measured after a short training course, by either an experienced or inexperienced clinician, presents high reliability. Reliability can be increased if the average of two measurements is used. Besides being inexpensive and portable, point-of-care ultrasound is a reliable tool for measuring knee extensors' thickness, rendering it potentially adequate to be used in clinical practice.

SUBMITTER: Pinto-Ramos J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10019477 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Reliability of point-of-care ultrasound for measuring quadriceps femoris muscle thickness.

Pinto-Ramos João J Costa-Santos Cristina C Costa Frederico F Tavares Helena H Cabral João J Moreira Tiago T Brito Rui R Barroso Joana J Sousa-Pinto Bernardo B

European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine 20220901 5

<h4>Background</h4>Point-of-care ultrasound can be used to assess muscle thickness. However, its reliability has not been fully evaluated.<h4>Aim</h4>This study aimed to assess the intrarater and inter-rater reliability of point-of-care ultrasound for the estimation of quadriceps and rectus femoris thickness in patients from a rehabilitation setting.<h4>Design</h4>This is a cross-sectional study.<h4>Setting</h4>This study was conducted at the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation of ...[more]

PMID: 36052891

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Dataset Information

Reliability of point-of-care ultrasound for measuring quadriceps femoris muscle thickness.

Background

Aim

Design

Setting

Population

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Clinical rehabilitation impact

Publications

Reliability of point-of-care ultrasound for measuring quadriceps femoris muscle thickness.

Similar Datasets

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