Test-retest Reliability of Biomechanical Measures and Clinical Pain Outcomes in Runners with Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (MTSS).
Ploypailin Namkorn, Torkamol Hunsawong, Uraiwan Chatchawan and 4 others
PMID 41185652WHAT IT FOUND
For runners with shin splints, pain distance, pressure path, muscle size and strength were repeatable between sessions.
Use the reported change thresholds before calling improvement real.
Key findings
01Four measures showed good to excellent repeatability, with reliability ratings from 0.82 to 0.94.
02The smallest change likely to reflect real change was 2.38% for center-of-pressure shift, 2.12 cm for linear pain distance, 0.63 cm² for flexor hallucis longus cross-sectional area, and 1.49 kg for flexor hallucis longus strength.
03There were no significant differences between the two sessions for pain, center-of-pressure shift, linear pain distance, flexor hallucis longus cross-sectional area, or flexor hallucis longus strength.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 22 recreational runners with medial tibial stress syndrome were tested, and the authors say the results may not apply to long-distance or competitive runners. The measures were performed by experienced physiotherapists who were familiar with the protocol, so repeatability may be lower for novice assessors without training. The study assessed repeatability within the same rater across two sessions three days apart, not agreement between different clinicians or longer intervals. For participants with bilateral symptoms, only the dominant leg was analysed, so the results do not show how both legs behave at the same time.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The work was supported by Thailand Science Research and Innovation Fundamental Fund and a graduate student dissertation support grant from the Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Khon Kaen University.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat this as evidence that any treatment works or that a small change means improvement. It only showed that four measures were repeatable over three days in recreational runners assessed by experienced raters.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →