The Reliability of Thickness Measurement of the Deep Fiber of the Lumbar Multifidus Using Ultrasonography

The reliability of the thickness measurement of the lumbar multifidus (LM) using real-time ultra-sonography (US) was determined in only the superficial fiber of the lumbar multifidus (SM). However, previous studies have not examined the reliability of the deep fiber of the LM (DM). The purpose of this study was to determine the intrarater and the interrater reliability of the thickness measurements of DM using US. Eleven healthy males participated in the study. The thickness of the DM was measured with an US in the prone position. Reliability was examined using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), standard error of the measurement (SEM, and the Bland and Altman plot. ICC(3,1) was used to calculate the inter-rater reliability of the thickness measurement of DM using the values from both the first and second test sessions. Additionally, ICC(3,1) was used to calculate the intrarater reliability of the measurements over two days using the measurements obtained in test session 1 and test session 2. The results of this study were as follows: 1) the ICC(3,l) value for interrater reliability was .94 in the first test session, and .93 in the second test session. 2) the ICC(3,1) values for intrarater reliability of the measurements over two days was .90 in both the first examiner and the second examiner. The intrarater reliability and interrater reliability of the DM measurements, obtained via the US protocol used in this research was excellent. Therefore, we conclude that the thickness measurement of the DM obtaioned from the US protocol used in this research would be useful for clinician assessment of the thickness of the DM.