Reliability of novice physiotherapists for measuring Cobb angle using a digital method

Abstract

Background: The Cobb’s method is the most accurate and reliable method for kyphosis measurement. Conventionally, a sagittal Cobb angle was commonly derived from a lateral plain film. With computer technology, a digital method is widely used in common clinical settings, but the existing reliability data involved only experienced raters. Objectives: To assess the interrater and intrarater reliability of a digital Cobb’s method using novice physiotherapists. Methods: Fifteen participants, with an occiput wall distance of more than 0 cm, were interviewed and assessed for their demographics. Then they were filmed for lateral spinal radiography over the area of thoracic spine in a standing position, and the Cobb angle was analyzed by four raters, including an expert physician and three novice physiotherapists, using a SurgimapSpine programme. Results: The average Cobb angles among the four raters showed no significant difference ( p = 0.984). Outcomes of their measurements had excellent intrarater and interrater reliability [intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC 3,3 ) = 0.995–0.997] with a small range of standard errors of the measurement (<1°). Conclusion: A digital Cobb’s method had excellent reliability when used by a novice health professional rater. The findings confirm the ease of using this method to detect and monitor kyphosis in general hospitals, clinics, or research facilities.

Cobb Angle Measurement of Spine from X-Ray Images Using Convolutional Neural Network

“…Furthermore, the reliability of the Cobb angle measured by using our proposed MBR method was assessed by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) [34, 35, 36, 37] and Pearson correlation coefficient [38]. In general, the ICC values are rated poor (less than 0.40), fair (0.40–0.59), good (0.0–0.74), or excellent (0.75–1.00).…”

Automation analysis X-ray of the spine to objectify the assessment of the severity of scoliotic deformity in idiopathic scoliosis: a preliminary report

“…В качестве одной из ключевых задач была выбрана подготовка данных, и значительное внимание уделено созданию датасета рентгенограмм для обучения нейросети. Если большинство результатов исследований базировалось на анализе 14-49 рентгенограмм, то мы провели обучение сети на 300 цифровых рентгенограммах позвоночника больных идиопатическим сколиозом, предварительно расчерченных врачомрентгенологом [9][10][11][12][13][14]25]. Сопоставимый объем исследований прослежен только в работах J. Wang et al и Y. Pan et al [11,13].…”

“…Анализ литературы показал, что за последние 10 лет выполнено большое количество работ, посвященных цифровым программным решениям при вычислении величины угла Кобба на рентгенограммах, причем увеличение количества таких исследований в первую очередь обусловлено развитием цифровой рентгенографии [9][10][11][12][13]. В то же время предлагаемые решения фактически являются либо полуавтоматическими в ситуациях, когда врач определяет начальный и конечный позвонки дуг, либо полностью ручными, но с использованием программного обеспечения, позволяющего увеличить изображение и более точно провести касательные к проекции тела позвонка [14].…”

Reliability and concurrent validity of the Spinal Cord Independence Measure III among rehabilitation professionals

“…The other six raters included two occupational therapists, two nurses, and two physical therapists, with one experience and one novice rater in each profession. Experience raters were those with more than 3 years of experience with individuals with SCI, while novice raters were those who rarely work with individuals with SCI [ 11 , 12 ].…”

“…Then, they were given a practice session in four individuals with SCI who did not involve in this study. Subsequently, all raters individually rated SCIM III scores of SCI participants from video data over two sessions, with a 14-day interval [ 11 ].…”