Reliability of a diabetic foot evaluation.

The purpose of this study was to establish the interrater and intrarater reliability of various ankle and foot measures common to a diabetic evaluation. Bilateral biomechanical, sensory, and wound-size measurements were obtained in 31 subjects with diabetes mellitus. Twenty-five subjects were retested by the initial examiner to determine intratester reliability, and all subjects were retested by another examiner to determine intertester reliability. Both examiners participated in an extensive training period prior to the initiation of this study to minimize variability between and within measurers. Intraclass correlation coefficients for interrater and intrarater measurements ranged from .58 to .89 and from .74 to .99, respectively. The results of this study indicate that ankle and foot measurements common to a diabetic evaluation can be taken reliably between testers. We believe extensive examiner training in these clinically relevant measures can improve reliability between testers.