Clinimetric properties of a smartphone application to measure the craniovertebral angle in different age groups and positions

Aafreen; Ashfaque Khan; Ausaf Ahmad; Abdur Raheem Khan; Neeraj Maurya; Mohammed M Alameer; Ahmad H Hakamy; Mohammed A Hakami; Yousef M Alshehre; Mohammed Aljahni; Karthick Balasubramanian; Mohammed M Alshehri; Mohammad Abu Shaphe

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19336

Clinimetric properties of a smartphone application to measure the craniovertebral angle in different age groups and positions

Heliyon. 2023 Sep 1;9(9):e19336. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19336. eCollection 2023 Sep.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physiotherapy, Integral University, Lucknow, India.
² Department of Community Medicine, Integral University, Lucknow, India.
³ Physical Therapy Department King Fahad Central Hospital, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Medical Rehabilitation Center of King Fahad Central Hospital of Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Physical Therapy Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Advance Rehabilitation Clinic, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Physical Education Department, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Background: Craniovertebral angle (CVA) alteration is a causative factor for the neck, shoulder, and temporomandibular joints disorders. Therefore, as an outcome measure for therapeutic intervention, measuring the craniovertebral angle with the Surgimap smartphone app is a cost-effective, easily accessible, and reliable tool. This study's objective was to assess the clinimetric properties of the Surgimap smartphone application with Surgimap system software to measure the Craniovertebral Angle in different age groups and positions.

Method: Ninety subjects with neck pain were randomly allocated to aged between 18 and 30 years (Group A; n = 45) and 45-60 years (Group B; n = 45). Using the Surgimap smartphone application and Surgimap system software, the craniovertebral angle was measured objectively in the sagittal plane. Intraclass correlation coefficients were used to determine validity and reliability. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and the area under the curves (AUC) were determined to distinguish participants with and without forward head posture.

Result: The result of this study shows that Smartphone Surgimap Application and Surgimap System Software correlate 0.95 and have p-values of 0.01 for diverse positions and ages. CVA measurement in the sitting position was significantly lower than in the standing position, regardless of methodology or age. Both positions demonstrated high intra-rater reliability, as evidenced by Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC) between 0.972 and 0.991. The minimum detectable change (MDC) values ranged from 1.3 to 1.733, indicating high measurement accuracy. The smartphone application demonstrated outstanding diagnostic sensitivity (100.00% for Group A standing) and specificity (93.55% for Group B standing).

Conclusion: The Surgimap smartphone application is a reliable and accurate method for craniovertebral angle measurement and is useful for measuring outcomes. Also standing posture was found to be better than sitting posture while measuring the CVA.

Keywords: Craniovertebral angle; Reliability; Surgimap smartphone application; Validity; surgimap system software.