Article

Ultrasonographic measurements of acromion-greater tuberosity (AGT) distance have
shown to be reliable and valid in the assessment of glenohumeral subluxation
(GHS) in patients with stroke. The primary aim of this study was to investigate
the effect of arm positions on ultrasonographic measurements of AGT distance. The
secondary aim was to assess the intra-rater reliability of AGT distance in
different arm positions. Sixteen healthy individuals with a mean age 28 standard
deviation 11 years who gave informed written consent were recruited. Four
clinically relevant arm positions for patients with stroke were selected: (1) arm
hanging freely by the side; (2) forearm on a pillow placed on participants lap
with the elbows at 90 degrees flexion and the forearms in pronation; (3) as in
position 2, but with the elbow supported and (4) shoulder in 10 degrees of
abduction and 60 degrees of flexion with the arm resting on a pillow placed on a
table. Repeated measures analysis of variance showed a statistically significant
effect of arm positions on mean AGT measurements for the right (F (3, 45) =
51.2666, p < 0.001, effect size = 0.774) and left (F (3, 45) = 51.883, p < 0.001,
effect size = 0.776) shoulders. AGT distance was significantly reduced in
positions 3 and 4. Within-session intra-class correlation coefficients and the
minimum detectable change values ranged from 0.94 to 0.97 and 0.1 to 0.2 cm,
respectively, for all four positions. This preliminary study corroborates that
supported arm position does reduce the AGT distance in healthy people suggesting
ultrasonographic technique has potential to provide objective measurements in
clinical management of patients with GHS.

Langue : ANGLAIS