Interrater reliability of Kraus - Weber exercise test as an evaluation tool in low back pain susceptibility among apparently healthy physiotherapy students

Abstract

Background: The Kraus-Weber Test, involves a series of tests that measure minimum strength & flexibility of the back, abdominals, psoas, and hamstring muscles. But it has less number of article available for the adult population. For the clinician, the Kraus-Weber Test is made to reduce the assessment time in clinics and easily administer and less time-consuming. Aim & Objective: To determine the inter-rater reliability of the Kraus-weber Test in physiotherapy students. Methods: 426 subjects (59 male and 367 females); ages ranging between 19-22 years, with no previous or present complaints of injury to the back & lower limbs were selected for the study using the purposive sampling technique of sample of convenience. For inter-rater 2 raters were assessed K-W Test in 426 subjects. All raters were blinded to the procedure. Before collecting the data, training to each rater was given for the administration of the K-W Test. Results: For reliability, ICC has been checked and for responsiveness & distribution based method, SEM & SRD has been analyzed. The K-W Test shows good inter-rater reliability by ICC value. ICC of inter-rater reliability for (A+), (A-) & (FL) is 1, for (P) is 0.998, for (UB) is 0.999 and for (LB) is 0.999. SEM value for inter-rater also finds & it shows there is less error that has been detected in all 2 raters. Conclusion: K-W Test is very reliable tool to access fitness in physiotherapy students.