Hugo Tapia Gallardo; Mariano del Sol; Paul Medina González;Máximo Escobar-Cabello; Rodrigo Muñoz-Cofré; Daniel Jerez-Mayorga & Rodrigo Lizama-Pérez

Skeletal muscle can be assessed in a number ofdifferentways. Consequently,ultrasoundevaluationhasbecome a relevant diagnostic tool. This procedure allows measuring muscle thickness (MT) and pennation angle (PA). Furthermore, during the initial training of physical therapists it is important in a diagnostic procedure, to exercise reliability in measurement in comparison to the expert. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine the inter-rater reliability in the measurement of MT and PA, through ultrasound evaluation, between an expert and a physicaltherapist intraining.Thistrainingwascomprisedofthree phases: The theoretical cycle, the practical cycle and the reliability process. For the latter, ten different tests were performed for each of the MT 1, MT 2 and MT 3 and PA measurements. Inter-rater reliability in the MT measurement was good to excellent in the three attempts MT1 (ICC=0.81; p=0.001), MT2 (ICC=0.86; p<0.001), MT3 (ICC=0. 88;<0.001). On the other hand, reliability of the PA was poor to fair (ICC=0.21; p=0.143. In conclusion, this research indicates that there is excellent inter-rater reliability in the measurement of MT. This does not however apply to the measurement of PA. It is therefore suggested that practical hours during the learning process of this measure be increased.

KEYWORDS: Muscle thickness; Penance angle; Reliability, Kinesiology.

TAPIA, G. H.; DEL SOL, M.; MEDINA, G. P1; ESCOBAR- CABELLO, M.; MUÑOZ-COFRÉ, R. & LIZAMA-PÉREZ, R. Inter-evaluator reliability in measurement of muscle thickness and penance angle through ultrasound evaluation: Comparison study between an expert and a Physical Therapist in training. Int. J. Morphol., 41(6):1846-1851, 2023.