• Carvalho LACM
• Aquino CF
• Souza TR
• Anjos MTS
• Lima DBM
• Fonseca ST

• Affiliation / Dinamica Clinic. Department of Physical Therapy
• Affiliation / UNA University Centre. Department of Physical Therapy
• Affiliation / Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Department of Physical Therapy. Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences
• Affiliation / Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Department of Sports. Graduate Program in Sport Science
• Affiliation / Universidade José do Rosário Vellano. Department of Physical Therapy
• Affiliation(G) / Brazil / Minas Gerais / Belo Horizonte
• Affiliation(G) / Brazil / Minas Gerais / Bom Despacho
• Affiliation(G) / Brazil / Minas Gerais / Divinópolis
• Clinical Decision-Making
• Physical Examination / methods
• Posture
• Reproducibility of Results
• Shoulder / physiopathology

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability of clinical measures related to forward shoulder posture (pectoralis minor index [PMI], scapular index [SI], abduction index [AI], acromion to the wall index [AWI] acromion to the treatment table index [ATI], and thoracic curvature [TC]), and to investigate the association (redundancy) among these measures.

METHODS: Twenty-one asymptomatic participants participated in this study. Two physiotherapists were trained to perform the clinical measurements. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC_2,k) were calculated to assess intra- and interrater reliabilities. Pearson product moment correlation was used to investigate the existence of possible redundancy between the measures that showed high intra- and interrater reliabilities.

RESULTS: The measures showed ICCs between 0.30 and 0.97. Five measures, PMI, SI, AWI, ATI, and TC, showed appropriate values for intrarater reliability (ICCs 0.77-0.94), and 3 measures, AWI, ATI, and TC, for interrater reliability (ICCs 0.82-0.85). Among measures that showed acceptable intra- and interrater reliability values, 2 measures were redundant, showing high association (AWI vs ATI) (r = 0.80, P < .001).

CONCLUSION: For PMI, SI, AWI, ATI, and TC measures, adequate values of intrarater reliability were observed. For AWI, ATI, and TC, adequate values of interrater reliability were found. Two pairs of measures were highly associated (PMI with SI; AWI with ATI), which indicates redundancy among them. Our results suggest that, when the same examiner performs the assessment, the combined use of the PMI, AWI, and TC measures allows a quick but comprehensive evaluation of the presence of forward shoulder posture.

Author keywords: Shoulder, Posture, Clinical Decision-Making, Reproducibility of Results

Author affiliations: LACMC: Graduate Program in Sport Science, Department of Sports, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; CFA: Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences, Department of Physical Therapy, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Department of Physical Therapy, Universidade José do Rosário Vellano, Divinópolis, Brazil; TRS, STF: Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences, Department of Physical Therapy, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; MTSA: Department of Physical Therapy, Dinamica Clinic, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; DBML: Department of Physical Therapy, UNA University Centre, Bom Despacho, Brazil

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