Reliability of a qualitative movement assessment tool during a single-leg triple hop landing

• Published in: Physical therapy in sport 2024-05, Vol.67, p.104-109
• Main Authors: Epstein, Eli, Huse, Casey, Link, Meredith, Greenberg, Elliot
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries - physiopathology; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries - surgery; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction - rehabilitation; Biomechanical Phenomena; Clinical medicine; Exercise Test; Female; Functional testing; Humans; Joint and ligament injuries; Knee; Male; Movement - physiology; Movement analysis; Pediatrics; Physical therapists; Physical therapy; Recording equipment; Reliability; Reproducibility of Results; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1466-853X; 1873-1600; 1873-1600
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ptsp.2024.04.005

Assess inter- and intra-rater reliability of the Qualitative Analysis of Single Leg Squat (QASLS) during a single-leg triple hop landing in subjects following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Explore if differences in reliability existed between novice and experienced clinicians. Determine if QASLS scores differed between the surgical and nonsurgical limbs. Repeated Measures. 20 subjects ≥6 months post-ACLR. Subjects were recorded performing a single-leg triple hop bilaterally. Videos were independently rated by five raters (2 physical therapists and 3 physical therapy students). Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was calculated to measure reliability of the QASLS on the surgical limb. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was utilized to assess if differences in QASLS scores existed between limbs. The cumulative inter-rater reliability was moderate (ICC (2,1): 0.703) and the cumulative intra-rater reliability was good (ICC (3,1): 0.857). Little difference was found between experienced and novice raters for inter- and intra-rater reliability. There was no statistically significant difference in QASLS scores between limbs (P = 0.64). The QASLS tool offers moderate inter- and good intra-rater reliability for evaluating movement quality during a single-leg triple hop landing, irrespective of rater experience. Additionally, there was no observed difference in QASLS scores between surgical and nonsurgical limbs. •QASLS showed moderate inter and good intra-rater reliability for a triple hop task.•Rater experience did not significantly affect reliability.•No significant difference in QASLS scores between surgical and nonsurgical limbs.•Study involved 20 subjects following ACL reconstruction.