Therapist agreement for palpation and observation of iliac crest heights

Ten subjects were assessed by 11 examiners (three physical therapy students, three physical therapists experienced in rehabilitation, and five physical therapists experienced in orthopedics) to determine intrarater and interrater agreement for an assessment procedure involving palpation and observation of iliac crest heights. The results of two separate trials in a single session showed that both groups of experienced physical therapists had slightly higher intrarater and interrater agreement than student physical therapists. Findings suggest that a need exists to improve the reliability of this commonly used physical therapy assessment procedure.