Author(s)

Musashi Yasuda, Kana Nishimoto, Masataka Hori, Tatsuya Noguchi, Hiroshi Takasaki^*

Department of Physical Therapy, Saitama Prefectural University, Koshigaya, Japan.

Relative flexibility between the hamstring and lumbar extensor muscles, which can be evaluated using lumbopelvic curvature during active knee extension in sitting, can sometimes be assessed in physical therapy. However, reliability for its quantitative measure has not been established yet and its establishment was the aim of the current study. Twenty-seven individuals with clinically tight hamstring muscles were recruited. On two separate sessions, the lumbopelvic curvature was evaluated in sitting when the right knee was moved from 90° flexion to 10° flexion on 15 occasions using a flexible ruler by two examiners on Day 1 and one on Day 2. Lines drawn tangential to the lumbopelvic curvature were traced at T12 and S2 vertebral levels and the angle between the two vertical lines was calculated. Using Day 1 data, the minimum number of repetitions and inter-examiner reliability were assessed. Inter-session reliability was also examined. As a result, there was no statistical difference (P > 0.05) in the mean absolute difference between the mean value of N-1 and N repetitions (6 ≤ N ≤ 15) in the lumbopelvic curvature angle, indicating that five was considered the minimum number of repetitions. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)_{(1, 5)} for the inter-session reliability and ICC_{(2, 5)} for the inter-examiner reliability was 0.97 and 0.93, respectively, indicating excellent reliability. The measure for the lumbopelvic curvature during active knee extension in sitting, which was established in the current study, will be a foundation for further research regarding the relative flexibility of the lumbar and adjunct regions.

Lumbosacral Region, Muscle Tightness, Hamstring, Physical Examination, Relative Flexibility, Test-Retest Reliability

Yasuda, M. , Nishimoto, K. , Hori, M. , Noguchi, T. and Takasaki, H. (2017) The Effect of Active Knee Extension in Sitting on Lumbopelvic Curvature in Individuals with Clinically Tight Hamstring Muscles: A Cross-Sectional Reliability Study. Open Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation, 5, 139-147. doi: 10.4236/ojtr.2017.54012.