Reproducibility of spinal curve angle measurements using spinal mouse

Purpose: We investigated the reproducibility of measurements of spinal curvature using Spinal Mouse on clothed and naked skin. Subjects: The subjects were 20 healthy men. Methods: We measured spinal curvature using Spinal Mouse on naked skin and one layer of clothing, twice for each condition, and determined the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: The ICC of thoracic kyphosis was 0.974 for the naked condition and 0.892 for the clothed condition. The ICC of lumbar lordosis was 0.939 for the naked condition and 0.883 for the clothed condition. In the comparison of the naked and clothed conditions, no significant differences were found. Furthermore, the measurement difference between the two conditions was of the order of 1.5°, suggesting that when it is difficult to take the measurement on the naked skin, a reliable measurement can be obtained over clothing.