Background: The universal goniometer is a common instrument for evaluating joint range of motion. It is used to identify impairments, to set goals and to plan the therapy. Due to different alignments, types of goniometers, environmental aspects and documentation, results often vary. The aim was to describe the reliability and the standard error of measurement of the universal goniometer and show standardized procedures for measuring shoulder and elbow joint.
Method: The literature research has been done until 28.02.2014 in CINAHL, PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Science Direct and PEDro. Additional literature has been searched at the library of the FH Campus Wien. In sum 9 studies have been used for the results of this review.
Results: Reliability values have been rated according to the scale of Fleiss. The studies showed average inter-rater reliability from 0.61 to 0.88 and intra-rater reliability from 0.74 to 0.96. For elbow measurements AROM was better than for shoulder measurements where PROM and assistive AROM yielded higher results. Reliability was high for the lateral application, for the distal forearm application and the application parallel to the shaft of the ulna depending on the measured motion. The average standard error of measurement was 3.6° for the elbow and 7.2° for the shoulder.
Conclusion: The universal goniometer is a reliable tool for occupational therapy when therapists stick to standardized procedures such as same starting position, way of application and type of goniometer used. The standard error of measurement varies from joint to joint and this has to be considered when checking therapy results.