The grading of hallux valgus. The Manchester Scale

• Published in: Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association Vol. 91; no. 2; pp. 74 - 78
• Main Authors: Garrow, A P, Papageorgiou, A, Silman, A J, Thomas, E, Jayson, M I, Macfarlane, G J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-02-2001
• Subjects: Foot - pathology; Hallux Valgus - classification; Hallux Valgus - pathology; Humans; Observer Variation; Photography - statistics & numerical data; Podiatry - statistics & numerical data; Random Allocation; Reproducibility of Results; Severity of Illness Index
• DOI: 10.7547/87507315-91-2-74
• ISSN: 8750-7315

This article describes a new, noninvasive method of assessing the severity of hallux valgus deformity by means of a set of standardized photographs. Six podiatrists were independently asked to grade the level of deformity of 13 subjects (26 feet) on a scale of 1 (no deformity) to 4 (severe deformity). The reliability of the four-point scale for the severity of hallux valgus was investigated by means of kappa-type statistics for more than two raters. The results showed that the grading method had excellent interobserver repeatability with a combined kappa-type statistic of 0.86, making it a suitable instrument for clinical and research purposes.