• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.46-54
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• 2012

Ely's test is commonly used to assess rectus femoris muscle flexibility. however, a reliability limit of this test was demonstrated by a previous study. In this study, we present an alternative method using an application for a digital horizontal level in a smartphone (DHLS) to complement the reliability limit of Ely's test. The aim of this study was to examine the reliability of Ely's test using DHLS on the pelvis, compared to using visual observation (VO) of pelvic and hip motions. Nineteen patients with lumbar extension-rotation syndrome were recruited for this study. An examiner examined the rectus femoris flexibility (both pass/fail and goniometer scoring) through Ely's test using both DHLS and VO. A retest session was completed two hours later for within-day reliability and seven days later for between-day intra-rater test-retest reliability. Results showed higher Kappa values for pass/fail scoring and higher intraclass correlation coefficient values for goniometer scoring in Ely's test using DHLS, compared to using VO. Measurement error and Bland and Altman plots further demonstrated the degree of intra-rater variance during Ely's test using DHLS in a clinical setting, compared to using VO. These results demonstrated that Ely's test using DHLS showed acceptable reliability compared to using VO. Ely's test using DHLS could be widely used for measuring the rectus femoris muscle flexibility in patients with lumbar extension-rotation syndrome, although the inter-rater reliability needs to be established first.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.125-133
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• 2017

This paper presents the inter-rater reliability of finger spasticity assessment tested realized by using finger simulator that mimics finger spasticity of patients after a stroke. For controlling the simulator torque, finger spasticity was modeled, and the model parameters were obtained by measuring quantitative data while grading based on Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS). A robotic finger simulator was designed for mimicking finger spasticity. Evaluation of this simulator with the help of seven rehabilitation doctors showed that the simulator had a Cohen's kappa value of 0.619 for Metacarpophalangeal Joint and 0.514 for Proximal Interphalangeal Joint. Fleiss' kappa between raters is 0.513 for Metacarpophalangeal Joint and 0.486 for Proximal Interphalangeal Joint. Therefore, the spasticity assessment made by MAS grade system is not reliable owing to the subjectivity of the assessment. The proposed robotic simulator can be used as a training tool for improving the reliability of the spasticity assessment.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.368-373
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• 2024

Objective: This study investigates the influence of femoral and knee torsion angles on toe in-out orientation in adults. Design: Cross-sectional study design. Methods: We measured the passive internal and external rotation range of motion (ROM) of the hip and knee joints in 21 participants using a goniometer. Toe in-out orientation was assessed with the GaitRite gait analysis system during slow and fast walking trials over a 6-meter walkway. Pearson correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between joint ROM and gait angle at both walking speeds. Intra- and inter-rater reliability were assessed, and simple linear regression was conducted to explore these relationships. Results: Intra-rater reliability demonstrated high reliability (0.84<ICC<0.94), while inter-rater reliability (0.44<ICC<0.83) exhibited moderate to high reliability. Significant correlations were found between the hip joint's range of motion and the gait angle at slow walking speed. Similar results were observed at fast walking speed for the hip joint. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the neutral angle of the hip joint (β=0.660, p<0.001) and the neutral angle of the knee joint (β=0.284, p=0.034) significantly contributed to the toe-out angle. Conclusions: Our findings indicate a significant correlation between the range of motion of the hip joint and toe in-out orientation. A decrease in the hip joint internal rotation angle was associated with a decrease in toe in-out, while an increase in the mid-angle was associated with an increase in toe in-out.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.329-337
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• 2019

Purpose: Ultrasound imaging is commonly used to measure the pennation angle of human skeletal muscles in vivo. However, manual assessment of the pennation angle using ultrasound images is subjective and time-consuming and requires a high level of examiner skill. The architectural analysis of human skeletal muscles is thus challenging. Automated approaches using image processing techniques are therefore required to estimate the pennation angle in ultrasound images. The purpose of this study was thus to assess the intra-tester and inter-tester reliability and validity of the pennation angle using an automatic measurement program. Methods: Twenty-two healthy young adults (mean age = 22.55 years) with no medical history of neurological or musculoskeletal disorders voluntarily participated in this study. Ultrasound imaging was used to measure the pennation angle of the gastrocnemius muscle at rest. One examiner acquired images from all the participants. The intra-tester and inter-tester reliability were evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to estimate reliability. Validity was measured using Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: The intra-rater reliability was excellent for the automatic pennation angle measuring program and the manual pennation angle assessment method (ICC>0.95). The inter-rater reliability was also excellent for both methods (ICC>0.93). All the correlation coefficients for the automatic pennation angle measuring program and the manual pennation angle assessment method were 0.79, which indicated a significantly positive correlation (p<0.05). Conclusion: Pennation angle measurement using the automatic pennation angle measuring program showed acceptable reliability and validity. This study therefore demonstrated that the automatic measuring program was able to automatically measure the pennation angle of skeletal muscles using ultrasound images, and thus made it easy to investigate skeletal muscle architecture.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.154-158
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to propose a new reference point for measurement of the infrasternal angle and to investigate the intra- and inter-rater reliabilities of infrasternal angle measurement using photographs. Methods: Twenty-four healthy male college students participated as subjects in this study. Photographs were taken of subjects in two postures, one standing with the shoulders relaxed and one standing with the shoulders at $150^{\circ}$ abduction. All photographs were analyzed using Image J software. Raters used the photographs to measure the infrasternal angle between the xiphoid process, the medial margin of rib and navel on the right and left sides. The reliability of the infrasternal angle measurement was assessed by means of intraclass correlation coefficients [ICC (3,1)]. The level of statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The intra- and inter-rater reliabilities of the infrasternal angle measurement for the right side at rest were excellent (ICC=0.866 and 0.813, respectively), as were those for the left side at rest (ICC=0.919 and 0.846, respectively). At $150^{\circ}$ shoulder abduction, the intra- and inter-rater reliabilities for measurement of the infrasternal angle on the right side were excellent (ICC=0.972 and 0.778, respectively), as were those for the left side (ICC=0.914 and 0.826, respectively). Conclusion: These findings suggest that this technique can be successfully used to measure the infrasternal angle, thus suggesting a new reference point for determining the length of the internal oblique and external oblique muscles in clinical situations.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.467-474
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• 2017

To investigate the intra-rater absolute reliabilities and validity of the Figure of-Eight Walk test (F8WT) in patients with chronic stroke. A total of 36 subjects with chronic stroke participated in this study. The inter-rater reliability of F8WT was calculated using intra-class correlation coefficients($ICC_{2,1}$). Moreover, we used the standard error measurement (SEM) and the small real difference (SRD) to examine the absolute reliability indices. The validity was demonstrated by a spearman correlation of F8WT with Postural Assessment Scale for Storke(PASS) and Trunk Impairment Scale(TIS). The inter-rater reliability of F8WT was excellent; ICC2,1=0.95(0.91~0.97), acceptable SEM=1.02, and SRD=2.82. F8WT were also found to be significantly associated with PASS(r=-0.82) and TIS(r=-0.85). Therefore, F8WT is a reliable measurement tool and is correlated well with stroke-impairments, such as postural and trunk control. F8WT will be a useful tool in evaluating the walking performance of subjects with chronic stroke.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.311-317
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• 2011

Objective: The present study was intended to identify (1) the intra- and inter-rater reliabilities of a visual sensibility evaluation protocol and (2) the effects of NaCOC color and scouring method on the visual sensibility of NaCOC. Thirty female participants(20s & 30s) were participated in the visual sensibility evaluation of NaCOC. Background: Interests in naturally colored organic cotton(NaCOC) increase rapidly in parallel with the social trend of eco-friendly living and wellbeing. Method: Three color sets (ivory, green, and coyote-brown) of NaCOC specimens including one untreated and four treated specimens($Na_2CO_3$; NaOH; enzyme; boiling water) were examined in the study. The visual sensibility evaluation was conducted by the test-retest method using nine pairs of bipolar visual sensibility adjectives(bright-dark; clear-murky; heavy-light; vivid-subdued; warm-cool; fresh-stale; strong-weak; showy-plain; and luxurious-cheap). Results: As a result of reliability of a visual sensibility evaluation protocol, inter-rater variability(average SD=1.06) of visual sensibility evaluation was more than 1.4 times the intra-rater variability(average SD=0.74). However, both the sensibility evaluation reliabilities did not show any systematic pattern of changes. Lastly, ANOVA and post-hoc analysis showed that preferred scouring methods for a visual sensibility adjective pair significantly vary depending on NaCOC color. Application: Both the reliability of visual sensibility evaluation protocol and the analysis of proper scoring method of NaCOC in the study would be useful information to design the affective textile.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.110-118
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• 2010

Purpose: To develop outcome indicators of urinary incontinence to measure quality of care in long term care hospitals in Korea. Methods: The draft indicators of urinary incontinence were developed from a literature review and clinical expert panel. A survey of medical records of 280 patients in 20 hospitals was conducted to test inter-rater reliability. Statistical analysis was done to test risk adjustment criteria, variation between hospitals, and stability of indicators, using assessment data from 77,918 patients in 623 hospitals. Results: The inter-rater reliability of items was high (Kappa range: 0.66- 0.92). Severe cognitive impairment (odds ratio [OR]: 3.15, confidence interval [CI]: 3.03-3.26) and total mobility activities of daily living (ADLs) dependency (OR: 4.85, CI: 4.72-4.98) increased the prevalence of urinary incontinence, thus they proved to be significant criteria to stratify high and low risk groups. The prevalence for low risk showed more substantial variation than the high risk group. The indicators were stable over one month. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the feasibility of outcome indicators of urinary incontinence. Improving the reliability of the patient assessment tool and refining the indicators through validation study is a must for future study.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.111-128
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• 2018

About 3.9 million apps and 24 primary categories can be approved on Apple iTunes Store. Making accurate categorization can potentially receive many benefits for developers, app stores, and users, such as improving discoverability and receiving long-term revenue. However, current categorization problems may cause usage inefficiency and confusion, especially for cross-attribution, etc. This study focused on evaluating the reliability of app categorization on Apple iTunes Store by using several rounds of inter-rater reliability statistics, locating categorization problems based on Machine Learning, and making more accurate suggestions about representative functionality stems for each primary category. A mixed methods research was performed and total 4905 popular apps were observed. The original categorization was proved to be substantial reliable but need further improvement. The representative functionality stems for each category were identified. This paper may provide some fusion research experience and methodological suggestions in categorization research field and improve app store's categorization in discoverability.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.129-141
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• 2004

An auditory-perceptual evaluation has long been utilized in assessing dysarthric speech. The process involves subjective judgement and the results might vary depending on clinical experiences or training of listeners. This study aimed to investigate reliability of the auditory-perceptual evaluation of 22 multi -dimensional variables on 6 patients with Parkinsonian speech disorders. Listeners were divided into two groups: one consisted of 6 speech therapists with clinical experiences for three years or more, and the other 6 graduate students without any previous clinical background. The results showed that the former evaluated dysarthric speech with higher inter-rater and intra-rater reliabilities than the latter. Furthermore, such speech variables as 'precise consonant: 'speech intelligibility: and 'SMR regularity' were more influenced than others by clinical experiences. We, therefore, postulated that a reliable auditory-perceptual evaluation of dysarthric speech may require adequate amount of clinical training of listeners.