Test-retest reliability and validity of a motion capture (MOCAP) system for measuring thoracic and lumbar spinal curvatures and sacral inclination in the sagittal plane.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the test-retest reliability and validity of the MOCAP system for measuring spinal sagittal thoracic and lumbar curvatures and sacral inclination in a standing posture.

METHODS: Twenty-five male adults were evaluated on lateral standing radiographs. The thoracic and lumbar curvatures were calculated by Harrison's posterior tangent method. The sacral inclination was defined as the angle between the tangent line of the sacral and vertical plane. In addition, MOCAP was used to calculate the spinal curvatures and sacral inclination.

RESULTS: The thoracic and lumbar spine and sacral inclination demonstrated excellent reliability, with mean ICCs levels greater than 0.980 and low CVs (mean: 2.15%). Systematic biases were not significant and were very near 0, and the mean standard errors were 0.257∘. ANOVA of the radiographic and MOCAP measures did not report any statistically significant differences in the comparisons. The systematic biases and mean random errors were lower than 1∘, with CVs lower than 5% and mean ICCs higher than 0.90 between sessions.

CONCLUSION: The MOCAP system delivered consistently reliable and valid results for standing curvatures compared with a radiographic technique. This system could be used with confidence in research and clinical environments for sagittal spinal curvature measurements.