• Lima POP
• Melo WPX
• Bezerra MA
• Almeida GPL
• Nunes ACL
• Oliveira RR

• Affiliation / Federal University of Ceará. School of Medicine. Department of Physical Therapy
• Affiliation / Federal University of Ceará. School of Medicine. League of Sport Physical Therapy
• Affiliation(G) / Brazil / Ceará / Fortaleza
• Low Back Pain
• Open Access Document
• Range of Motion, Articular
• Reproducibility of Results
• Sacroiliac Joint

Objective: This study aimed to assess the intraexaminer and interexaminer reproducibility of the Downing test in sacroiliac joint evaluation in symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals.

Methods: A reliability study was conducted with a test–retest design in 54 college students of both sexes. To assess the intraexaminer reproducibility, each participant was evaluated twice by the same examiner with a 7-day interval, and to assess the interexaminer reproducibility, each participant was evaluated by 2 examiners.

Results: Of the 54 participants included in the study, 18 (33.3%) were asymptomatic and 36 (66.7%) were symptomatic; a total of 108 sacroiliac joints were evaluated. Sacroiliac joint diagnosis based on the Downing test presented low intraexaminer reproducibility in all participants (κ = 0.12, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.03-0.22), in asymptomatic individuals (κ = 0.18, 95% CI 0.02-0.34), and in symptomatic individuals (κ = 0.28, 95% CI 0.17-0.39). The interexaminer reproducibility also was low in all participants (κ = 0.18, 95% CI 0.09-0.27), in asymptomatic individuals (κ = 0.22, 95% CI 0.15-0.37), and in symptomatic individuals (κ = 0.16, 95% CI 0.05-0.27). The standard error of the measurement values were not lower than smallest detectable change values considering a CI of 95% for all participants.

Conclusion: For this group of asymptomatic and symptomatic participants, the reproducibility of the Downing test was poor. The clinical utility of this test used in isolation is not supported by the present study.

Author keywords: Physical Examination; Range of Motion, Articular; Hip Joint; Sacroiliac Joint; Low Back Pain

Author affiliations: Lima POP, Bezerra MA, Almeida GPL, Nunes ACL, Oliveira RR: Department of Physical Therapy, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, CE, Brazil; Lima POP, Melo WPX, Bezerra MA, Almeida GPL, Oliveira RR: League of Sport Physical Therapy, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, CE, Brazil

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