Knee Range of Motion: Reliability and Agreement of 3 Measurement Methods

We conducted a study to compare 3 methods of measuring knee range of motion: visual estimation by physicians, hand goniometry by physical therapists, and radiographic goniometry. We hypothesized that reliability would be high within and across all tech­niques. We found intrarater and interrater reliability to be satisfactory for visual estimation, hand goniometry, and radiographic goniometry. Interrater reliability across methods did not agree satisfactorily. Between-methods differences in estimating knee range of motion may result from variations in technique among physicians and physical therapists.