Affiliations: [a] Department of Sport Science and Kinesiology,
University of Salzburg, Hallein-Salzburg, Austria
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Johannes Dirnberger, Department of
Sport Science and Kinesiology, University of Salzburg, 49 Rifer Schlossallee,
Hallein-Salzburg, 5020, Austria. Tel.: +43 660 549 4195; Fax: +43 662 6389
4881; E-mail: johannes.dirnberger@sbg.ac.at
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine relative as well as
absolute reproducibility for the IsoMed 2000-dynamometer in measuring Peak
Torque (PT) during concentric and eccentric maximum knee extension at two
angular velocities. Thirty five physically active male subjects (mean age: 23.7
years) with no prior experience of isokinetic exercise were measured on three
occasions (T1–T3), separated by 48–72 h. Detection of systematic errors was
performed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Bonferroni
post hoc adjustments. Further statistical calculations were done between
consecutive pairs of sessions (T1–T2; T2–T3). Intraclass correlation
coefficients (ICC 2,1) were calculated to assess relative reproducibility,
whereas absolute reproducibility was determined by the standard error of
measurement (SEM). A highly significant systematic error was found for the
eccentric measurements with values on the first visit being around 5% lower
than corresponding values on the second and third visit. ICC values of
0.907–0.955 and 0.968–0.984 with corresponding values of SEM of 7.4–19.1 and
4.5–10.9 Nm were found for T1–T2 and T2–T3, respectively. In conclusion,
high reproducibility was shown for the IsoMed 2000-dynamometer in measuring PT
during concentric and eccentric knee extension. However, due to a systematic
practice-based improvement found for eccentric measurements, we suggest to do a
familiarisation session prior the actual testing sessions in practice.
