This study focused on whether the smartphone applications can demonstrate the true hip rotational angle (validity) and produce constant results (reliability). The major findings in the study are that the smartphone applications mostly showed good-to-excellent validity compared with the 3DMA measurements. The most valid hip rotational position in this study was the supine IR angle measurement, while the lowest validity was the ER angle measurement in the sitting position. In addition, the study found good-to-excellent inter- and intra-rater reliabilities for the smartphone application measurements. Our findings are similar to those of a study by Charlton et al. [8]; they investigated a smartphone application called “Hip ROM Tester” (https://play.google.com/store/apps), which was mainly used for calculations in its clinometer-like mode. Those researchers found that, compared with 3DMA, the Hip ROM Tester application demonstrated excellent validity for all hip motions except the supine ER position, which only had moderate-to-good validity. The research team measured the rotational angles in two positions (sitting and supine); however, the knee was placed off the examination table and flexed to 90 degrees, which is not a common posture in routine clinical practice [8]. In the current study, however, the authors set up the supine position so that the participants lay on the table, with their hip and knee being passively flexed to 90 degrees; this is a more typical position for the assessment of hip rotations [3].
Moreover, as done in earlier research by Tousignant-Laflamme et al., the rotational angles in the present study were assessed by two mobile applications, the choice of which varied with the specific plane of measurement [11]. The authors believe that using both an inclinometer and a gyroscope-like mobile application may be more appropriate than relying solely on one application. The recent studies support mobile applications in determining hip rotational angles. The smartphone compass application could quantify the hip IR angles in a supine position with good intra-rater and moderate inter-rater reliabilities [12]. Active hip IR and ER could be measured with the clinometer smartphone applications [13]. The smartphone accelerometer-based goniometers had good validity compared with computer assist navigation systems with less than 3-degree acceptable clinical error [14].
All values from the application measurements were higher than those from the 3DMA, with a p-value of less than 0.01. The same results had been found by a previous study that compared the validity of a manual goniometer with an electromagnetic tracking system [15]. In that research, it was found that the rotational angles obtained from the manual goniometer did not indicate the true hip rotation movement. Instead, the values from the manual goniometer represented the intersegment of the thigh and/or leg to the trunk and/or the table angle [15]. Such measurements may include pelvic tilt and/or lumbar movement. In the case of the 3DMA, however, the angles were calculated by a computer based on anatomical landmarks attached to the skin. For that reason, the results from the smartphone application were higher than those from the standard 3DMA measurement in the current study.
The authors found good-to-excellent intra-rater reliabilities for both examiners in this study. As to the inter-rater reliabilities, there were good-to-excellent reliabilities for three of the six positions; another two had a fair reliability, while the last one (the supine ER position) had a poor reliability. The best intra-and inter-rater reliabilities were found with supine IR. The authors believe the cause of the poor-to-fair inter-rater reliability was related to technical errors in the measurements rather than any inaccuracy of the mobile application. There were inconsistent end-point measurements despite the study clearly defining the end point. The precision of the measurements might have been affected by the variety of body shapes of the patients as well as by the diversity of body shapes, sex, and ages of the examiners. The authors suggest that smartphone applications should be used with caution. Examiners should be well trained before applying a mobile application in clinical practice.
There are many factors associated with the validity of the measurements. In this study, the validity of the smartphone applications depended on the measurement position, with the supine position having greater validity (the highest ICC 0.94; 7.5% SEM) than those of both the sitting position (ICC of 0.89; 11.7% SEM) and the prone position (ICC of 0.81, 13.1% SEM). Furthermore, the study by Simonneau et al. [16] found that the hip position influenced the measurements of the rotation angle made with a manual goniometer in healthy subjects. The researchers stated that there were more values for ER hip angles measured in the prone position than in the sitting position, and the difference was statistically significant. On the other hand, while the values of the IR hip angles were also higher in the prone position, the difference was not significant [16]. In contrast, work by Kouyoumdjian et al. [5] found that the measurements of the hip rotation angles did not differ significantly for all three positions (supine, prone, and sitting).
To date, there is no consensus regarding which is the best position to measure hip rotation. The authors noted that it was hard to limit pelvic movements and lift the hip while performing the hip rotation measurement in the supine and prone positions. For the supine position in this study’s protocol, the right hip and pelvis were lain and fixed on the examination table. The right hip and knee were flexed to 90 degrees, and the right knee was stabilized through rotational movement. This protocol might minimize pelvic movements and thus reduce errors of measurement. The authors suggest that there are differences in the measurement of the hip rotation in different positions. The supine position may be the optimal position to measure the hip rotational angle.
The present study found that the IR hip measurements had greater validity than the ER hip measurements. This was similar to the findings of the work by Nussbaumer et al. [15], who investigated the validity of manual goniometers for the measurement of passive hip rotations in FAI patients. As with our study, those researchers identified that there was a higher validity for the measurement of passive IR angles than of ER angles [15]. Another study has also found that the bubble inclinometer has greater validities and intra-rater reliabilities for the measurements of IR angles than ER angles [8]. In addition, smartphone applications have been used in a number of studies to measure joint angle motions [17–20]. Compared with the universal goniometer, the applications showed good-to-excellent agreement and good reliability for the measurement of many joint angle motions of the knee [17], ankle [18], and wrist joints [19]. For that reason, the smartphone applications in the current study might be used to assess the hip rotational angle.
The smartphone applications, Bubble Level and Clinometer and Accurate Compass, offer many advantages: (1) a low cost, (2) convenience, (3) quick assessments, (4) a user-friendly operation, and (5) acceptable validity and reliability. Moreover, an examiner could use the applications without the aid of an assistant. To do this, the examiner would use one hand to rotate the hip and the other hand to stabilize the pelvis. The rotation angles would be estimated by the examiner’s eyes or measured by an assistant using a manual goniometer.
This study had some limitations. Firstly, the end points of each measurement were subjective. The authors clearly stated the end point as being either the appearance of a firm-end feeling or the observation of pelvic and/or trunk movements. Nevertheless, this particular protocol might create inconsistency in determining the end points by individual examiners. It would therefore be better if either the pelvic tilt or rotation was utilized as the objective measurement to reduce errors. Secondly, the 3DMA angle measurements depended on the reflexive anatomical landmarks applied on the skin. It would be better if we applied the marker on the bone in order to obtain a more precise angle measurement. Unfortunately, that could not be done in routine clinical practice. Finally, the smartphone was attached to the participant by an armband. This may create some soft tissue artifact due to micro-motion, especially in the case of large leg sizes. The authors attempted to solve this problem by using rigid tape. Moreover, the measurements were made three times each to assess the intra-rater reliability; however, measurement errors might still occur. The likelihood of their occurring would be reduced in a future study if a better way of securing the mobile phone to the participants’ skin is devised or employed. At this time, development in machine learning technology have gained popularly especially for the musculoskeletal system to solve the clinical problem [21]. A better mobile application system together with the machine learning technology may have benefit in clinical practice in the future.