Reproducibility of Lateral Reach in the Sitting Position

Abstract

[Purpose] In this study we investigated the reproducibility of the lateral reach test in the sitting position.[Subjects] The subjects were 7 young healthy men, average age: 24.0  3.2 years.[Method] We measured maximum lateral reach of the right side 3 times and determined the angles of the head, shoulder girdle, pelvis and lower thigh. We repeated the measurements 4-7 days later.[Results] The intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) of lateral reach were 0.679 at the first measurement and 0.858 at the second measurement. Intra-day reproducibility was found, but the inter-day ICC was 0.377 casting doubt on the reproducibility. In the comparison of reach distance, the distance of the second measurement showed a significantly higher value than that of the first. [Conclusion] In the measurements of body angles, the angle of the pelvis at the second measurement was significantly larger than that of the first, suggesting that pelvis angle influences the maximal reach distance.