Intra-rater reliability

About: Intra-rater reliability is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2073 publications have been published within this topic receiving 140968 citations.

Reliability prediction of engineering systems with competing failure modes due to component degradation

Abstract: Reliability of an engineering system depends on two reliability metrics: the mechanical reliability, considering component failures, that a functional system topology is maintained and the performance reliability of adequate system performance in each functional configuration. Component degradation explains not only the component aging processes leading to failure in function, but also system performance change over time. Multiple competing failure modes for systems with degrading components in terms of system functionality and system performance are considered in this paper with the assumption that system functionality is not independent of system performance. To reduce errors in system reliability prediction, this paper tries to extend system performance reliability prediction methods in open literature through combining system mechanical reliability from component reliabilities and system performance reliability. The extended reliability prediction method provides a useful way to compare designs as well as to determine effective maintenance policy for efficient reliability growth. Application of the method to an electro-mechanical system, as an illustrative example, is explained in detail, and the prediction results are discussed. Both mechanical reliability and performance reliability are compared to total system reliability in terms of reliability prediction errors.

Measurement of knee joint range of motion with a digital goniometer: A reliability study.

Abstract: Objectives Measurements of joint range of motion (ROM) are part of a physical therapist's daily work. Activities of daily living and exercises can be complicated to perform when ROM is limited, and depending on the demands in daily living, the knee joint requires different ROM. In sports, a few degrees in ROM may make the difference between getting injured or not. The goals for physical therapists are to help the patients to regain full ROM, mobility, strength, and function after sustaining an injury. To measure joints with the manual universal goniometer is considered time-consuming and difficult with respect to repeated measurements. Recently, a new digital instrument for measuring ROM was developed-EasyAngle. A first objective of the study was to investigate the reliability of EA for measuring knee joint angles, considering intrarater and interrater reliability. A second objective was to investigate if there were any differences in the intrarater reliability between a novice and an experienced assessor. Method Passive knee angles were measured in fixed positions for 40 knee joints (20 subjects). Two registered physical therapists, one novice and one experienced, conducted the measurements. Both registered physical therapists were blinded to the measurements throughout the study. Results The results showed very good intrarater (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] 0,997-0,998, standard error of mean 1.15-1.48, smallest detectable difference [SDD] 3.19-4.09, limits of agreement -3.36-3.04, -4.66-4.09) and interrater reliability (ICC 0.994, standard error of mean 2.11, SDD 5.85, limits of agreement -4.75-6.95) for measurements of knee joint ROM. No statistical difference between a novice and an experienced assessor was detected (p = 0.86). Conclusion The results of the present study showed very good ICC values for both intrarater and interrater reliability measuring knee joint ROM with EasyAngle. Relatively high SDD values were seen for both assessors and may indicate a problem monitoring small differences between measurements. Further studies are recommended to increase the generalizability of the results.

Reproducibility of tender point examination in chronic low back pain patients as measured by intrarater and inter-rater reliability and agreement: a validation study

Abstract: Objectives To evaluate the reliability and agreement of digital tender point (TP) examination in chronic low back pain (LBP) patients. Design Cross-sectional study. Settings Hospital-based validation study. Participants Among sick-listed LBP patients referred from general practitioners for low back examination and return-to-work intervention, 43 and 39 patients, respectively (18 women, 46%) entered and completed the study. Main outcome measures The reliability was estimated by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and agreement was calculated for up to ±3 TPs. Furthermore, the smallest detectable difference was calculated. Results TP examination was performed twice by two consultants in rheumatology and rehabilitation at 20 min intervals and repeated 1 week later. Intrarater reliability in the more and less experienced rater was ICC 0.84 (95% CI 0.69 to 0.98) and 0.72 (95% CI 0.49 to 0.95), respectively. The figures for inter-rater reliability were intermediate between these figures. In more than 70% of the cases, the raters agreed within ±3 TPs in both men and women and between test days. The smallest detectable difference between raters was 5, and for the more and less experienced rater it was 4 and 6 TPs, respectively. Conclusions The reliability of digital TP examination ranged from acceptable to excellent, and agreement was good in both men and women. The smallest detectable differences varied from 4 to 6 TPs. Thus, TP examination in our hands was a reliable but not precise instrument. Digital TP examination may be useful in daily clinical practice, but regular use and training sessions are required to secure quality of testing.