Do technological tools improve reliability in ankle dorsiflexion assessment? A study across healthy and injured individuals

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The objective was to examine the intra- and inter-rater reliability of three instruments for measuring ankle dorsiflexion (ADF) range of motion (ROM) and degree of asymmetry in the Weight-Bearing Lunge Test (WBLT). Additionally, the study evaluated the agreement between these tools in both asymptomatic and symptomatic populations. METHODS: Sixty-five participants were included, comprising 32 healthy individuals and 33 subjects presenting ankle pathology. Measurements were conducted on two separate occasions by two independent assessors using distinct methods to quantify ADF-ROM and asymmetry during the WBLT. RESULTS: Veloflex demonstrated strong intra- and inter-rater reliability, with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) consistently above 0.88, for both ADF-ROM measurement and asymmetry detection across symptomatic and asymptomatic groups. Furthermore, an acceptable agreement was observed between Veloflex and the tape measure in the symptomatic cohort, while agreement between Veloflex and the Dorsiflex app was suboptimal. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that Veloflex is a reliable tool for assessing ADF-ROM and asymmetry in both healthy and pathological cases. While the tape measure offers a viable alternative to Veloflex in symptomatic assessments, substitution of Veloflex with the Dorsiflex app is not supported due to inconsistent agreement.