Ultrasound Evaluation of the Abductor Hallucis Muscle in Youth: A Reliability Study.
- 1Department of Health & Sports Science, The EVOLVE Research Group, South East Technological University (SETU), Carlow, Ireland.
- 2Sport Research Institute New Zealand (SPRINZ), School of Sport, Exercise and Health, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand.
Abstract
Introduction
Abductor hallucis (AbdH) is an intrinsic foot muscle and a stabiliser of the medial longitudinal arch. Its cross-sectional area (CSA) is routinely measured by ultrasound (US) and is highly relevant to foot muscle development. However, the reliability of portable US for measuring AbdH CSA in healthy youth is unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the inter-device association, inter-rater reliability and inter-session reliability of portable US for measuring AbdH CSA in youth.Methods
Twenty-seven youths (11-17 years; 14 male, 13 female) participated, with inter-device association and inter-rater reliability assessed in a subgroup of n = 12 and intra-rater inter-session reliability in n = 15. AbdH CSA images were captured on two occasions one week apart using a 5-15 MHz handheld US unit (L15HD, Clarius), while a single image was captured using a cart-based US device (3-16 MHz; HS40, Samsung) for inter-device comparison. Reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (two-way mixed-effects, absolute agreement). Inter-device comparison was evaluated using Pearson's correlation, linear regression and paired-sample t-test for systematic differences, and measurement error was quantified using the standard error of measurement (SEM).Results
Portable and cart-based US measurements of AbdH CSA showed a strong positive correlation (r = 0.938, p < 0.001), although mean values were 0.19 cm² higher with the cart-based device (p = 0.002). Inter-rater reliability was excellent (ICC(3, 3) = 0.934, 95% CI: 0.786-0.980) with no significant difference between assessors (p = 0.823), minimal bias (-0.01 cm²), and a SEM of 0.039 cm². Inter-session reliability was also excellent (ICC(3, 3) = 0.969, 95% CI: 0.911-0.989) with no significant difference between sessions (p = 0.788), minimal bias (0.007 cm²) and a SEM of 0.013 cm².Conclusion
A portable US device demonstrated excellent inter-rater and inter-session reliability for measuring AbdH CSA in youth and was strongly associated with cart-based US measurements.
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BibTeX
@article{squibb2026ultrasound,
title = {{Ultrasound Evaluation of the Abductor Hallucis Muscle in Youth: A Reliability Study.}},
author = {Maisie Squibb and Dean Monks and Christopher D Nulty and Kelly Sheerin and Peter Francis},
journal = {Journal of foot and ankle research},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/jfa2.70230},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42957939},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Ultrasound Evaluation of the Abductor Hallucis Muscle in Youth: A Reliability Study.
AU - Maisie Squibb
AU - Dean Monks
AU - Christopher D Nulty
AU - Kelly Sheerin
AU - Peter Francis
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
JO - Journal of foot and ankle research
DO - 10.1002/jfa2.70230
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42957939
AB - Introduction Abductor hallucis (AbdH) is an intrinsic foot muscle and a stabiliser of the medial longitudinal arch. Its cross-sectional area (CSA) is routinely measured by ultrasound (US) and is highly relevant to foot muscle development. However, the reliability of portable US for measuring AbdH CSA in healthy youth is unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the inter-device association, inter-rater reliability and inter-session reliability of portable US for measuring AbdH CSA in youth.Methods Twenty-seven youths (11-17 years; 14 male, 13 female) participated, with inter-device association and inter-rater reliability assessed in a subgroup of n = 12 and intra-rater inter-session reliability in n = 15. AbdH CSA images were captured on two occasions one week apart using a 5-15 MHz handheld US unit (L15HD, Clarius), while a single image was captured using a cart-based US device (3-16 MHz; HS40, Samsung) for inter-device comparison. Reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (two-way mixed-effects, absolute agreement). Inter-device comparison was evaluated using Pearson's correlation, linear regression and paired-sample t-test for systematic differences, and measurement error was quantified using the standard error of measurement (SEM).Results Portable and cart-based US measurements of AbdH CSA showed a strong positive correlation (r = 0.938, p < 0.001), although mean values were 0.19 cm² higher with the cart-based device (p = 0.002). Inter-rater reliability was excellent (ICC(3, 3) = 0.934, 95% CI: 0.786-0.980) with no significant difference between assessors (p = 0.823), minimal bias (-0.01 cm²), and a SEM of 0.039 cm². Inter-session reliability was also excellent (ICC(3, 3) = 0.969, 95% CI: 0.911-0.989) with no significant difference between sessions (p = 0.788), minimal bias (0.007 cm²) and a SEM of 0.013 cm².Conclusion A portable US device demonstrated excellent inter-rater and inter-session reliability for measuring AbdH CSA in youth and was strongly associated with cart-based US measurements.
SN - 1757-1146
ER -