Manual Therapy, 2008/02, 13(1):50-56. doi: 10.1016/j.math.2006.09.009, type of study: ,irs,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Full text    (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1356689X06001445)

Keywords:

inter rater reliability [14]
joint diseases [5]
low back pain [524]
controlled clinical trial [324]
palpation [217]
pelvic bones [3]
reproducibility of results [16]
sacroiliac joint [76]

Abstract:

In muscle energy technique (MET), palpation is an important tool aimed at detecting asymmetry and selecting interventions. The aim of this study was to test the inter-examiner reliability of static palpation of the transverse processes of L5 (L5), sacral sulci (SS), inferior lateral angles of the sacrum (ILA), and the medial malleoli (MM) in a clinical setting. Twenty-five participants, aged 18-78 years, with low back pain and/or sacroiliac pain with or without radiating pain to the knee, were independently examined by two experienced physiotherapists. For L5, SS, ILA, the proportion of observed agreement was 40-44% and the kappa coefficient 0.11 (SE=0.12) to 0.17 (SE=0.10). For MM, the observed agreement was 52% and the kappa coefficient 0.28 (SE=0.15). Differences in palpation technique seem to be the most likely source of the low inter-examiner reliability in this study. For clinical practise, continued use of these tests as methods for detecting asymmetry and selecting interventions is of doubtful utility.