Original articleMeasurement of cervical sensorimotor control: The reliability of a continuous linear movement test

BackgroundCervical sensorimotorcontrol (cSMC) is traditionally assessed by head repositioning accuracy (HRA) measurements. A disadvantage of the HRA measurements is their static character and lack of visual feedback. In 2008, Sjölander et al. developed a continuous linear movement test (CLMT). This CLMT uses several kinematic parameters, such as reduced range of motion (ROM), velocity and movement smoothness, to quantify altered sensorimotor functions.ObjectiveInvestigate the inter and intra rater reliability of a CLMT.DesignReliability study.MethodsFifty asymptomatic adults were recruited. Five outcome measures were obtained: the time (t) needed to perform one movement, variation in time (var-t), ROM, peak velocity (peak-v) and Jerk index (Cj).A 3D analysis of cervical movements during the CLMT was made using ZEBRIS™. MATLAB™ was used to process data provided by the ZEBRIS™ device. These data were used to calculate ICC or κw-values, depending on the normality of the distribution, using SPSS.ResultsThe intra rater reliability shows slight to moderate agreement for t (ICC: 0.19-0.42 and κw: 0.42) and peak-v (κw: 0.27-0.47), moderate to substantial agreement for var-t (ICC: 0.54-0.73) and ROM (ICC: 0.43-0.65) and fair to substantial agreement for Cj (κw: 0.27-0.69).The inter rater reliability shows moderate to almost perfect agreement for t (ICC: 0.54-0.93), almost perfect agreement for var-t (κw: 0.81-0.96) and ROM (ICC: 0.86-0.95), slight to moderate agreement for peak-v (κw: −0.03-0.44) and slight to fair agreement for Cj (κw: 0.00-0.31).ConclusionTime and ROM are presently the most reliable outcome measures. However, it must be noted that the discriminant validity of the time parameters needs further investigation.