• Journal of Korean Foot and Ankle Society
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2009

Purpose: To study the reliability of intra- and interobserver reliability in angular measurement of hallux valgus deformity by assessing hallux valgus angle (HVA) and the 1st to 2nd intermetatarsal angle (1-2 IMA) through using computerized system. Materials and Methods: 20 cases of moderate to severe hallux valgus patients were included in this study. With the standing anteroposterior view of foot, the HVA and 1-2 IMA were calculated by computerized measurement system of Infinity cooperation, called ${\pi}$-view, with its software tools. Using the statistical software program, SPSS (version 12th), we interpreted the results which were measured by two independent observers. Results: In the intraobserver measurement, the HVA of observer A showed reliability ($32.5^{\circ}{\pm}6.9$ and $33.1^{\circ}{\pm}6.8$)(p<0.05). 1-2 IMA in observer A was not regarded as reliable ($16.9^{\circ}{\pm}2.8$ and $17.1^{\circ}{\pm}2.8$)(p>0.05). In the results of observer B, HVAs were measured as $35.7^{\circ}{\pm}7.6$ and $36.2^{\circ}{\pm}7.7$, and were not reliable (p>0.05). 1-2 IMA in observer B was not reliable as well ($17.0^{\circ}{\pm}0.8$ and $20.8^{\circ}{\pm}1.5$)(p>0.05). In the interobservers' measurements, the first and the second results of HVA were $3.2^{\circ}{\pm}3.6$ and $3.1^{\circ}{\pm}3.1$, reliable within the 95% confidence interval (p<0.05). 1-2 IMAs were $0.1^{\circ}{\pm}1.9$ and $3.73^{\circ}{\pm}1.3$, which were not reliable (p>0.05). Conclusion: In the angular measurement of the hallux valgus by computerized system, the HVA and 1-2 IMA showed less error range in the interobserver's results, compared with the previous studies about the manual measurement. However, our results failed to show the statistical reliability of intra- and interobserver's measuring. Therefore, even the computerized angular measurements in the severity of hallux valgus require development of the measuring methods and software tools.