Straight leg raise test high reliability is not a motor memory artefact

This study investigated whether the reported straight leg raise (SLR) test-retest reliability is an artefact of motor memory. Six SLR measurements were performed by one therapist on 16 subjects with a symptomatic SLR. Distance cues available to the subjects were manipulated by systematic variation of the starting position for each test. Angles at P1 (the angle at which pain was provoked) were measured with a gravitational goniometer No significant effect on P1 was observed due to either variation in starting position or repeated testing. The SLR procedure was found to be highly reliable, with an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.95. These results indicate that SLR reliability is not an artefact of memory for the movement involved in the test.