Journal of Chiropractic Medicine
Volume 10, Issue 4 , Pages 240-247, December 2011

Reliability and validity of the AutoCAD software method in lumbar lordosis measurement

  • Amir Letafatkar, PhD

      Affiliations

    • PhD Student in Sport Medicine, Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Tehran, North Amirabad Street, Tehran, Iran. Tel.: +21 61115227; fax: +21 66224431.
    • ,
  • Ramin Amirsasan, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
    • ,
  • Zahra Abdolvahabi, MA

      Affiliations

    • Physical Education Instructor, Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
    • ,
  • Malihe Hadadnezhad, PhD

      Affiliations

    • PhD Student in Sport Medicine, Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Received 8 June 2010; received in revised form 27 January 2011; accepted 21 February 2011.

Abstract 

Objective

The aim of this study was to determine the reliability and validity of the AutoCAD software method in lumbar lordosis measurement.

Methods

Fifty healthy volunteers with a mean age of 23 ± 1.80 years were enrolled. A lumbar lateral radiograph was taken on all participants, and the lordosis was measured according to the Cobb method. Afterward, the lumbar lordosis degree was measured via AutoCAD software and flexible ruler methods. The current study is accomplished in 2 parts: intratester and intertester evaluations of reliability as well as the validity of the flexible ruler and software methods.

Results

Based on the intraclass correlation coefficient, AutoCAD's reliability and validity in measuring lumbar lordosis were 0.984 and 0.962, respectively.

Conclusions

AutoCAD showed to be a reliable and valid method to measure lordosis. It is suggested that this method may replace those that are costly and involve health risks, such as radiography, in evaluating lumbar lordosis.

Key indexing terms: Lumbosacral region, Lordosis, Reliability and validity, Lumbar vertebrae

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PII: S1556-3707(11)00146-5

doi:10.1016/j.jcm.2011.02.003

Journal of Chiropractic Medicine
Volume 10, Issue 4 , Pages 240-247, December 2011

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