Reliability of the landing error scoring system-real time, a clinical assessment tool of jump-landing biomechanics.

CONTEXT: There is a need for reliable clinical assessment tools that can be used to identify individuals who may be at risk for injury. The Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) is a reliable and valid clinical assessment tool that was developed to identify individuals at risk for lower extremity injuries. One limitation of this tool is that it cannot be assessed in real time and requires the use of video cameras.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the interrater reliability of a real-time version of the LESS, the LESS-RT.

DESIGN

Reliability study.

SETTING

Controlled research laboratory.

PARTICIPANTS

43 healthy volunteers (24 women, 19 men) between the ages of 18 and 23.

INTERVENTION: The LESS-RT evaluates 10 jump-landing characteristics that may predispose an individual to lower extremity injuries. Two sets of raters used the LESS-RT to evaluate participants as they performed 4 trials of a jump-landing task.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC2,1) values for the final composite score of the LESS-RT were calculated to assess interrater reliability of the LESS-RT.

RESULTS

Interrater reliability (ICC2,1) for the LESS-RT ranged from .72 to .81 with standard error of measurements ranging from .69 to .79.

CONCLUSIONS

The LESS-RT is a quick, easy, and reliable clinical assessment tool that may be used by clinicians to identify individuals who may be at risk for lower extremity injuries.