Intra-rater and Inter-rater Reliability and Agreement of the Scapular Dyskinesis test in Young Men with Forward Head and Round Shoulder Posture

Abstract

<strong>Background:</strong> Forward head and round shoulder posture (FHRSP) is believed to be related to scapular dyskinesis (SD), placing increased stress on the neck and shoulder, leading to pain and dysfunction. Therefore, a clinical method with sufficient reliability to distinguish normal and abnormal scapular position and motion among people with FHRSP is called for. This study aims to evaluate intra-rater and inter-rater reliability and agreement of the scapular dyskinesis test (SDT) in people with FHRSP. <strong>Methodsː</strong>This reliability study included 60 young men who were identified as having FHRSP, having been measured by the photogrammetry method. The clinical examination included a Scapular Dyskinesis Test (SDT), which is a dynamic and visually based test to classify the presence of SD. It was performed by two raters who were blinded to each other's test results on two different days. Intra- and inter-rater reliabilities were determined using the Kappa coefficient with linear weighting for the ordinal classification of SD by SDT. <strong>Results:</strong> Inter-rater agreement values ranged from 90.8% to 92.1%. Furthermore, the inter-rater reliabilities presented an almost perfect reliability (k > 0.82). For intra-rater agreement, raters presented high percentage values of agreement between the two measurements (88.9% to 92.5%). Intra-rater reliability for raters was substantial to almost perfect (k >0.77). <strong>Conclusion:</strong> The intra- and inter-rater reliability and agreement of the SDT obtained by two raters was substantial to almost perfect among young men with FHRSP. Therefore, it seems that SDT is a simple method to distinguish normal and abnormal scapular position and motion in order to screen or assess before developing prevention programs.