SITTING-RISING TEST - INTER-OBSERVER RELIABILITY RESULTS

Abstract

228 Sitting and rising are among the most frequently performed actions in daily life. Such actions require minimal levels of muscle power and coordination, flexibility and postural stability. Recently, Araújo (1998) introduced a simple method to assess the ability in these actions, which, if reliable, would be clinically useful. Our aim was to measure the inter-observer reliability for the Sitting-Rising test (SRT). In the SRT, sitting and rising performance is separately evaluated in two trials, using a scale ranging from 0 to 5, with .5 intervals. The result starts from 5 and for each extra support used in the action (ex: hand, arm, knee) 1 point is withdrawn. If unbalance is perceived an additional .5 is subtracted. The best score in the two trials for sitting and rising actions, separately, is chosen. To assess SRT inter-observer reliability, 10 asymptomatic subjects (X=23±10 years of age) were taped from a 45° angle, in a total of 100 movements. Purposely, all possible scores were made using a random sequence. Three evaluators separately rated SRT scores from the tape. Tape rewinding were not allowed. Friedman test showed that evaluators did not differ significantly for sitting (p=.86) or rising (p=.82). For sitting, 80% of the performances were identically evaluated while 76% did so for rising. The most common difference among evaluators for both actions was .5 (12% for sitting and 9% for rising). No relationship was found for the score magnitude and the evaluators error. SRT showed high inter-observer reliability in the assessment of sitting and rising from the floor in asymptomatic child and young adults. The main source of error among evaluators corresponds to the minimal possible difference along the scale. So, when evaluators rate a performance differently, they tend to differ minimally. Partial financial support from CAPES.