Validity and reliability of surface measurement of the thoracic khyphosis and lumbar lordosis in age of growth with a pocket inclinometer

Introduction: The gold standard in the measurement of sagittal curves of the spine is the radiographic Cobb method. Over the last 30 years no-invasive approaches have been developed for the study of sagittal spine deformity. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the reliability and validity of a heavy pointer pocket-size inclinometer, IncliMed, to measure the surface thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis in adolescent with no curvatures of the spine or with idiopathic scoliosis, Scheuermann’s kyphosis or postural kyphosis. Material and methods: In a first group of 128 patients, the sagittal curves of the spine were measured according to the IncliMed technique and these values compared with those obtained by the same examiner according to the Cobb radiological technique. In a second group of 139 patients measurements of the surface thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis were taken on the same day for each subject by two examiners (P/S); in 30 subjects measurements were repeated by examiners according to the IncliMed technique at the distance of 28 days, as a mean. The linear regression analysis and the Bland and Altman criteria were used for the data analysis (p