Clinical availability of the deep tendon reflex test using a novel apparatus in healthy subjects

[Purpose] The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical usefulness of a novel apparatus intended to improve the consistency and reliability of the deep tendon reflex (DTR) test. [Subjects] The participants included 50 healthy adults (25 male and 25 female) between 20 and 31 years of age who showed no knee abnormalities upon physical examination. [Methods] The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to verify inter-rater reliability for two parameters examined in the DTR test using a newly designed apparatus. These parameters were the patellar reflex amplitude and first knee extension angle. Pearson's product correlation coefficient was then used to examine the correlation between these two parameters. [Results] The inter-rater reliability analysis showed a high correlation between the examiners for both DTR parameters (ICCs = 0.91-0.96). In addition, a significant positive correlation was observed between the two parameters (r = 0.91). [Conclusion] The results show that it is possible to use the novel apparatus described herein to obtain reliable results in the DTR test.