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Objective: To analyze the most common methods for measuring patellar height and the impact of observer experience in correlations with the other observers using digital radiography. Methods: Sixty digital radiographs of the knee in lateral view were analyzed by four observers: a physician in the second year of medical residence in orthopedics (R2); a physician in the third year of medical residence in orthopedics (R3); an orthopedic surgeon who was a specialist in knee surgery (SK); and a radiologist who was a specialist in musculoskeletal radiology (SR). The indices used were: Insall-Salvati (IS), Blackburne-Peel (BP), Caton-Deschamps (CD) and modified Insall-Salvati (ISM). The interobserver agreement was calculated using the kappa coefficient (κ). Results: The highest correlation coefficients were found when using the IS method followed by the CD method. The worst correlation was observed in the ISM method. The highest interobserver agreement was found between the orthopedic surgeon specializing in knee surgery and the radiologist specializing in musculoskeletal radiology, for the four measurement methods used. Conclusion: Using digital radiography, the Insall-Salvati and Caton-Deschamps indexes presented the highest interobserver agreement, and this was also positively influenced by the observer's level of experience.

ObjectiveTo analyze the reproducibility of the "American Knee Society Score" (AKSS) scale, and determine its measurement, in order to make it useful for the evaluation of patients with osteoarthritis or who have undergone total knee arthroplasty.MethodsIn the first interview, the AKSS was applied along with the SF-36 and WOMAC (examiner 1). After thirty minutes the same patients answered only the AKSS. After a two week break, a third additional interview with AKSS was applied (examiner 2).ResultsWe selected 58 patients with a mean age of 67.4 years. In the analysis of reproducibility, by ICC, there was strong inter-examiner and intra-examiner correlation for two AKSS components. In the individual items analysis there was good correlation for "Pain", "Range of Motion", "Flexion contracture" and all items of the AKSS Function component. Validation through the Pearson coefficient showed good correlation between AKSS "Pain," WOMAC "pain" and SF-36 "Pain domain", and good correlation between the AKSS and SF-36 "Functional Capacity domain".ConclusionThe AKSS adapted to Brazilian culture is useful and reliable for the evaluation of individuals with osteoarthritis or those who have undergone TKA.

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