Goniometry

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
B

bnwj89

SPT
10+ Year Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2012
Messages
185
Reaction score
16
Members do not see this ad.
Hey everyone,

I am in my 2nd semester, and I have a question for all practicing PTs... How much do you use goniometry, and how reliable do you believe it is?

To me, honestly a lot of it seems pretty unreliable. For example... joint measurement where instructions in the book for proximal arm is "midline of the trunk" leave quite a bit of room for variation.

Obviously, some joint measurements are less reliable than others (hip flexion compared to elbow flexion) but in general, it just seems... not that reliable. Inter-rater reliability especially.

As I do it more and more, I do find myself getting better and better at it, and being able to consistently get results within 5 degrees for some joints (such as elbow flexion), but still...

Am I trying to get too much out of gonio? What is your opinion of it?
 
bnwj89 said:
Hey everyone,

I am in my 2nd semester, and I have a question for all practicing PTs... How much do you use goniometry, and how reliable do you believe it is?

To me, honestly a lot of it seems pretty unreliable. For example... joint measurement where instructions in the book for proximal arm is "midline of the trunk" leave quite a bit of room for variation.

Obviously, some joint measurements are less reliable than others (hip flexion compared to elbow flexion) but in general, it just seems... not that reliable. Inter-rater reliability especially.

As I do it more and more, I do find myself getting better and better at it, and being able to consistently get results within 5 degrees for some joints (such as elbow flexion), but still...

Am I trying to get too much out of gonio? What is your opinion of it?
Click to expand...

You should be discussing the reliability of it during your class. Has this been a topic of discussion there? If not, I'd bring it up with your instructors.
 
Generally a waste of time. Patients seem to think it matters, especially after a TKA though....
 
I personally do a lot of eyeballing in the clinic. Goniometers are technicianesque.
 
I believe you are referring to "Guessinometry"
 
Only really used it with my neuro patients and measuring contractures and increases in their range (or lack thereof) with serial casting and the like. Did use it for ortho patients, but that was with post-op patient who were had considerable rang restrictions, and we needed to track progress. As long as you're consistent with the method you use. But like Fiveboy said, a lot is eyeballing. As jesspt said, this is a great discussion for your lab/class.
 
Thanks everyone for the insight! If anyone else has comments on the subject, please keep them coming!
 
It's a quick, easy objective measurement that can be used to show patient progress and increase buy-in of the patient. I'm not in practice yet, but I could imagine patients want to see clear objective data showing improvement
 
i always thought the info gathered from goniometers were to show insurance companies if the patients are improving or not so they can request further visits?
 
I think it's really only meaningful with post-op patients. When learning goni in class, our professor made it sound like we would be using it ALL THE TIME. Goni gives you information about ROM. That's it. I'm more concerned with quality of movement.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top