Interrater and Intrarater Reliability of the Intra-Abdominal Pressure Test in Young Adults

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Diaphragm is not used correctly to its fullest potential which can lead to injury provoking compensations. If recruited properly, the diaphragm aids in the production of intra-abdominal pressure, which is necessary for core and spinal stabilization. Intra-abdominal pressure is a key component of our dynamic stability system. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the interrater and intrarater reliability of the intra-abdominal pressure test in young adults. METHODOLOGY: It is a non-experimental design of test-retest type. 80 subjects (50 women and 30 men) aged 18-28 years with the BMI of < 23.05-24.9 kg/m2 were conveniently included. Subjects with the history of low back pain for past 3 months, any hip or knee surgery for last 1 year, thoracic or thoracoabdominal surgery, postural deformities, cardiorespiratory diseases, pregnancy and pelvic floor dysfunction was excluded. The intra- abdominal pressure test had been carried to the subjects on the same day for the interrater reliability and 1 week later for the intrarater reliability. The signs of proper stabilization with the correct and incorrect activation of the chest and abdominal movements of the subjects were documented independently between the raters and scoring had been done. RESULTS: The results of the study showed an overall excellent interrater reliability of ICC=0.957 and intrarater reliability of ICC= 0.903 of the test. CONCLUSION: The study concludes that there is an overall excellent interrater and intrarater reliability of the intra-abdominal pressure test in normal young adults and hence it can be used in clinical practice. Keywords: Diaphragm, Intra-abdominal pressure, Intra-abdominal pressure test, Core stability, Spinal stability.