Posture Measure
A manual inclinometer was used to measure thoracic kyphosis or standing posture. Reliability and validity of inclinometers have been well documented. Intra- and inter-rater reliability (ICC 0.93-0.97 with 95% CI 0.88-0.99) was confirmed in subjects with and without symptoms and found measurements of less than 1.7 degrees should be considered measurement error.39-41 Validity was supported by change with intervention, and the inclinometer showed good agreement with the gold standard of Cobb angle (r = 0.86), x-rays (ICC 0.89, p < 0.001), as well as the photogrammetric technique.42 A larger posture angle or score indicates worse posture, and is also hypothesized to indicate greater emotional distress.