Test-retest reliability of goniometric measurements of the range of dart-throwing motion.
Masahiro Mitsukane, Hirohumi Tanabe, Kosuke Sugama and 2 others
PMID 30936638WHAT IT FOUND
A goniometer method for measuring the dart-throwing wrist motion was unreliable when repeated by the same or different occupational therapists in 24 healthy adults.
Do not use it to guide clinical decisions yet.
Key findings
01Measurements by the same rater were unreliable for most wrist motion measures, with only some radial extension measures moderate.
02Measurements by different raters were unreliable for all parameters.
03The procedure appeared unsuitable for clinical use because of its poor reliability.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study was done in 24 healthy young adults (mean age 19.1 years, range 18 to 21 years) with no history of orthopedic disease, so it does not show how the method performs in patients with wrist problems. Only three raters participated, and only one rater repeated the measurements within a week. The tested motion was pure dart-throwing motion, which is not usually performed in everyday life, so participants may have had difficulty reproducing it. Wrist motion was not analyzed quantitatively, so the study could not confirm whether poor reliability came from the participants' movement, the goniometer placement, or both.
Declared interests
The authors reported no financial support and no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that dart-throwing wrist motion is not worth assessing. The study tested this goniometer method for pure dart-throwing motion and found poor reliability. It did not test clinical outcomes or whether the motion matters in patients.