A photographic method to measure abnormal head posture

Research for medical photographers: photographic measurement

Many first degrees in photography or photography-related topics lack a thorough grounding in the photographic sciences. This in turn leads to difficulties for medical photographers who graduate from these courses, when it comes to designing photographic protocols for research projects that will utilize photography as a means of data collection. The concept of the image as subject analogue is introduced and means of visualizing the subject are outlined. The considerations for undertaking photometric, photogrammetric and time-based measurements are given. The variables that need to be controlled in each modality are highlighted and a bibliography is appended so that readers can discover for themselves working examples of the techniques described.

Intra/interrater reliability of measurements on body posture photographs

Intra/interrater's reliability of the coordinates of ten anatomical landmarks on a frontal and a dorsal body posture photograph of 18 subjects was tested. The measurements were conducted by two testers with an interval of seven days between each session. The repeated measurements of each examiner (intrarater) and the first and second measurement of both examiners (interrater) were assessed for reliability. Statistical testing was performed to confirm the data to fit a normal distribution according to Shapiro-Wilks (alpha = 0.05). Intraclass correlation coefficients and Pearson Product-Moment correlation coefficients were used to assess reliability at the alpha level of 0.05. Pearson's correlation coefficients were between 0.72 and 1.0, Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) between 0.66 and 1.0. In further analysis of the results, repeated-measures paired T-tests were used to test for differences between repeated measures. After adjustment of the alpha level for the total number of comparisons, 10 of the paired T-tests were significant (2 intra; 8 inter). The results indicate that the measuring method provides reliable data and that two different test modes produce consistent measurements.