Reliability and minimal detectable change of the ‘Imperial Spine’ marker set for the evaluation of spinal and lower limb kinematics in adults

Abstract

Objectives As a step towards the comprehensive evaluation of movement in patients with low back pain, the aim of this study is to design a marker set (three rigid segment spine, pelvic and lower limb model) and evaluate the reliability and minimal detectable change (MDC) of this marker set in healthy adults during gait and sit to stand (STS) tasks using three dimensional motion capture. Results The ‘Imperial Spine’ marker set was used to assess relative peak angles during gait and STS tasks using the minimum recommended sample size (n = 10) for reliability studies with minimum Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) of 0.70, optimum ICC 0.90 and 9 trials replicated per subject per task. Intra- and inter-tester reliability between an experienced and inexperienced user was examined. ICC, mean, standard error (SEM), Bland Altman 95% limits of agreement (LOA) and MDC were computed. ICC values demonstrated excellent intra- and inter-tester reliability in both tasks, particularly in the sagittal plane (majority ICCs > 0.80). SEM measurements were lower in gait (0.8–5.5°) than STS tasks (1°-12.6°) as were MDC values. LOA demonstrated good agreement. The ‘Imperial Spine’ marker set is reliable for use in healthy adults during functional tasks. Future evaluation in patients is required.

Symptomatic individuals with Lumbar Disc Degeneration use different anticipatory and compensatory kinematic strategies to asymptomatic controls in response to postural perturbation

“…However, to our knowledge, this is the first time that a comprehensive evaluation of spinal and bilateral lower limb kinematic strategy has been described in relation to a specific LBP cohort. Using a novel marker set [ 26 , 27 ] and bespoke postural perturbations simulating public transport [ 34 ] it was possible to determine differences in kinematic strategy between LDD pain and LDD no pain groups. These differences extended beyond the biomechanical realm; significant differences in anxiety, depression, disability and quality of life were also observed between groups.…”

“…In addition, potential confounders such as age, sex, BMI and task related pain changes were not found to influence results. However, the ‘Imperial Spine’ marker set [ 26 , 27 ] was used to evaluate sagittal kinematics with several accepted assumptions. Firstly, the trunk and bilateral lower limbs were assumed to consist of rigid segments.…”

“…The ‘Imperial Spine’ marker set was used to assess sagittal trunk and lower limb kinematics [ 26 , 27 ]. 18 single spherical retro-reflective markers (14 mm diameter) (at T1, T7 and L1 spinous processes and bilateral anterior and posterior iliac spines, lateral and medial femoral condyles, lateral and medial malleoli, head of 1 st and 5 th metatarsals and calcanei), 3 triads (3 strips of 3 single markers fixed in linear orientation on rubber strips at T6, T12 and L5) ( Fig.…”

Stereophotogrammetric Approaches to Multi-Segmental Kinematics of the Thoracolumbar Spine: A Systematic Review

“…Another common segment de nition was dividing the back into 3 parts and these were: Upper thoracic, Lower Thoracic and Lumbar (27,38,92,93,52,53,59,64,71,(83)(84)(85). Some studies further divided the lumbar spine into upper and lower lumbar, to have a total of 4 segments (12,13,86,94,97,14,(39)(40)(41)(42)52,66,67).…”

“…Thirty-ve studies had only healthy participants in their cohorts (24,27,54,55,57,58,(63)(64)(65)(71)(72)(73)31,(74)(75)(76)(77)(78)80,81,83,87,89,47,90,92,(95)(96)(97)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53). Twenty-seven studies compared pathological participants to healthy participants (12,13,45,46,59,62,(66)(67)(68)82,84,85,14,86,88,91,…”