Background: Physical therapists routinely measure range of motion (ROM) of cervical spine. The reliability of the cervical range of motion (CROM) device has been demonstrated in several studies, but current evidence on the validity and reliability of the visual inspection is contradictory. The aim is to assess the validity and interexaminer reliability of the online visual inspection of active cervical ROM in physiotherapy students.
Methods: Flexion, extension, both lateral flexions and rotations of a single participant were measured using CROM. Online visual inspection of 18 physiotherapy students against CROM was registered.
Results: The validity, against CROM, of the online visual inspection of the active ROM ranged from good to excellent (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) 0.83-0.97). Interexaminer reliability of the online visual inspection had favorable outcomes in all cervical movements in the three physiotherapy courses (ICC 0.70-0.96), with the visual inspection of the rotations being the most reliable (ICC 0.93-0.97). Interexaminer reliability of the classification of mobility was poor to good (Kappa 0.03-0.90).
Conclusions: The interexaminer reliability and validity of the quantification of active cervical movement during online visual inspection was shown to be good to excellent for flexion-extension and lateral flexions and excellent for rotations.
Keywords: neck; physical examination; telemedicine.