Research

Inter-rater reliability of the Foot Posture Index (FPI-6) in the assessment of the paediatric foot

Stewart C Morrison and Jill Ferrari

The University of East London, Stratford Campus, Water Lane, London, E15 4LZ, UK

author email corresponding author email

Journal of Foot and Ankle Research 2009, 2:26doi:10.1186/1757-1146-2-26

Published:	21 October 2009

Abstract

Background

Reliability is an integral component of clinical assessment and necessary for establishing baseline data, monitoring treatment outcomes and providing robust research findings. In the podiatric literature traditional measures of foot assessment have been shown to be largely unreliable. The Foot Posture Index (FPI-6) is a clinical tool used in the assessment of foot and to date, there is limited research published which evaluates the reliability of this tool in children and adolescents.

Method

Thirty participants aged 5 - 16 years were recruited for the research. Two raters independently recorded the FPI-6 score for each participant.

Results

Almost perfect agreement between the two raters was identified following weighted kappa analysis (Kw = 0.86).

Conclusion

The FPI-6 is a quick, simple and reliable clinical tool which has demonstrated excellent inter-rater reliability when used in the assessment of the paediatric foot.