Reliability of the Apley's range of motion test and dominant and nondominant upper extremity differences

The purposes of this study were to determine the intertester and intratester reliability of the Apley's range of motion test (ARMT) and determine if differences exist between upper extremities for male and female subjects. 35 healthy subjects (18 males, 17 females) were studied. For the ARMT, subjects were asked to reach behind their lower back and reach as high as possible with their thumb along the spine (internal rotation component) and reach behind their head and reach down as far as possible with their third digit along the spine (external rotation component). For each component, the distance from the end point reached to the spinous process of the seventh cervical vertebrae was documented in centimeters. Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.89 to 0.98 and standard error of measurement values ranged from 0.41 to 0.96 cm. Significantly less motion was noted by both testers for the dominant upper extremity for the internal rotation component of the test for both males and females. No other significant differences in motion were noted. The results of this study support the use of the ARMT as being a reliable measure of upper extremity motion.