| Abstract: | OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted with the purpose of evaluating the inter-sessionreliability of new software to measure the diameters of the cervical multifidusmuscle (CMM), both at rest and during isometric contractions of the shoulderabductors in subjects with neck pain and in healthy individuals. METHOD: In the present study, the reliability of measuring the diameters of the CMM withthe Sonosynch software was evaluated by using 24 participants, including 12subjects with chronic neck pain and 12 healthy individuals. The anterior-posteriordiameter (APD) and the lateral diameter (LD) of the CMM were measured in a restingstate and then repeated during isometric contraction of the shoulder abductors.Measurements were taken on separate occasions 3 to 7 days apart in order todetermine inter-session reliability. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC),standard error of measurement (SEM), and smallest detectable difference (SDD) wereused to evaluate the relative and absolute reliability, respectively. RESULTS: The Sonosynch software has shown to be highly reliable in measuring the diametersof the CMM both in healthy subjects and in those with neck pain. The ICCs 95% CIfor APD ranged from 0.84 to 0.94 in subjects with neck pain and from 0.86 to 0.94in healthy subjects. For LD, the ICC 95% CI ranged from 0.64 to 0.95 in subjectswith neck pain and from 0.82 to 0.92 in healthy subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasonographic measurement of the diameters of the CMM using Sonosynch hasproved to be reliable especially for APD in healthy subjects as well as subjectswith neck pain. |
