Inter-examiner agreement of musculoskeletal and visceral tests to assess the pelvic region in women with stress urinary incontinence

An accurate assessment of the pelvic region is necessary to provide reproducibility in research and clinical practice. The aim of this study, which is part of a randomized controlled trial, was to test the level of inter-examiner agreement of musculoskeletal and visceral tests to assess the pelvic region in women with stress urinary incontinence. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 20 women between 30 and 60 years old. Nine musculoskeletal tests were performed (standing and sitting flexion tests, Gillet test, iliac, sacral, and bladder position and mobility tests, psoas test, and abdomen assessment) and one pain provocation test for the sacroiliac joint (Patrick Faber test). Descriptive statistics were used, and the inter-examiner agreement was assessed using the Kappa coefficient (k). Significant agreement was found for the Patrick-Faber test and abdomen type (k = 0.649, p< 0.0001 and k = 0.342, p< 0.342, respectively). No significant agreement was observed in the remaining tests. In general, the tests' reproducibility in this study among evaluators to assess women's pelvic region with stress urinary incontinence is very weak.