Inter-rater reliability of a wright respirometer to measure vital capacity in neuromuscular disorders.
Ryuji Yoshinaga, Haruki Futsuhara
PMID 34776615WHAT IT FOUND
Two therapists measuring vital capacity in 18 patients with neuromuscular disorders using a Wright respirometer and a standardized script produced highly consistent results.
Differences between examiners were small enough that the device can reliably track disease progression across different clinicians.
Key findings
01Inter-rater reliability for vital capacity measurements using the Wright respirometer was excellent, with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.96.
02Analysis showed no systematic bias between the two therapists' measurements, meaning neither examiner consistently read higher or lower than the other.
03The smallest change in vital capacity that can be considered a real difference between measurements by different therapists was 282 mL.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study used a small sample of 18 patients. Reliability was only tested when therapists followed a strict standardized script; it is unknown if reliability holds without this structured approach. The minimal detectable change was calculated statistically, not based on patient-reported outcomes or clinical anchors.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume the Wright respirometer is equally reliable in all settings without the specific standardized script and manual used in this study, as the authors note reliability may decrease without these controls.