Reliability and validity of active, passive and dynamic range of motion tests

The purposes of this project were to determine (a) the reliability of ROM and POM assessment methods for tests where an ankle joint brace was used and (b) the relationship between active and passive ROM and POM inversion measurements. The range of motion of the ankle joint complex for inversion was quantified using a range of motion apparatus. The inversion path of motion for the foot and the shoe was quantified using a high speed video system. The results of this study indicated: (a) Comprehensive functional tests of ankle joint braces using ROM and POM measurements showed maximal group differences of less than 1 degree between days for ROM (rAROM = 0.96 and rPROM = 0.93) and less than 1.5 degrees for POM measurements (rPOM = 0.88). (b) PROM measurements showed a consistent "creep" effect of about 2 degrees with increasing trial number during the first ten trials which must be taken into consideration for the design of the appropriate test protocol. (c) The correlation coefficient between AROM and POM was 0.37 and 0.44 between PROM and POM, suggesting that AROM and PROM measurements do not predict inversion during actual movement.