(Research Hub Theater) Inter-rater Reliability of Self-reported Beighton Scores in a College Athlete Population

Background and/or Objectives: The 9-item Beighton Score is a well-accepted method of assessing generalized joint hypermobility. Although moderate evidence exists for the inter-rater reliability of the Beighton Score among healthcare professionals, the reliability of the self-reported Beighton Score is less well understood. Use of the self-reported Beighton Score among athletes could be an efficient method of screening for potential risk factors for future injury and could inform personalized training recommendations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the intra-rater reliability of the self-reported Beighton Score among collegiate swimming and diving athletes.

Design: The self-reported Beighton Score was administered electronically twice, approximately one year apart.

Setting: Single Division III collegiate swimming and diving team.

Participants: Division III collegiate athletes on the Swimming and Diving team who were at least 18 years old.

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures: Intra-rater reliability of the Beighton Score, calculated using a linear mixed effects model. Per the Cicchetti guidelines, the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) was defined as “poor” if less than 0.04, “fair” if between 0.40-0.59, “good” if between 0.60-0.74, and “excellent” if between 0.75-1.00.

Results: Sixteen swimmers, mean age 19 years old (SD=0.8), 56% female (n=9) participated. The ICC was 0.65, which corresponds with a Cicchetti interpretation of good intra-rater reliability. With only 16 participants, a 95% confidence interval was unable to be calculated.

Conclusions: The self-reported Beighton Score may be a valid tool to efficiently assess collegiate swimming and diving athletes’ degree of generalized joint hypermobility. This method of measurement could be used in future studies to evaluate whether hypermobility in swimmers is associated with increased risk of injury.