The objective of this work was to evaluate the reproducibility, reliability and usefulness of the musculo-articular stiffness (MAS) of the ankle joint, measuring it by the free vibration technique. Seventeen (nine males and eight females) healthy university students were included in the study. Force (f), MAS (k) and unitary MAS (k_u) (defined as the ratio between the value of stiffness k obtained in the test (absolute terms) and the value of force (f)) were obtained. A test-retest protocol was designed and performed on the same day to determine the short-term reproducibility of f, k and k_u. Short-term reproducibility of k and k_u on 1 day in absolute terms (<7% Coefficient of Variation (CV)) and relative reproducibility (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and Pearson ≥0.97) for both feet were obtained. The reliability of k and k_u in absol_ute terms (<9% CV) and in relative terms (ICC and Pearson ≥0.93) based on repeating the protocol for 1 week was analysed for both feet. To analyse the usefulness, the Effect Size (ES) ratio = “Trivial” for all variables (for 1 day and 1 week) and the Smallest Worthwhile Change (SWC) ratio (Typical Error (TE)<SWC) = “GOOD” for k and k_u (1 day and 1 week) were considered. The Minimal Difference needed to be considered “real” (MD) for k_u ≅3.5% (1 day); k_u≅8.5% (1 week) (p<0.05) was obtained. The statistical analysis carried out displayed the high reproducibility, reliability and usefulness of the MAS test, which was more consistent with k_u than k. Therefore, the unitary stiffness (k_u) proven to be representative of the mechanical response of the ankle joint obtained by free vibration techniques, which allows comparison between different subjects.

这项工作的目的是评估脚踝关节的肌肉-关节僵硬度（MAS）的可再现性，可靠性和有用性，并通过自由振动技术对其进行测量。这项研究包括了十七名（九名男性和八名女性）健康的大学生。力（˚F），MAS（ķ）和酉MAS（ķ _Û）（定义为刚性的值之间的比率ķ在试验中得到（绝对值）和力（该值˚F获得））。设计并在同一天执行重测协议，以确定f，k和k _u的短期可重复性。获得了两只脚在1天时的k和k _u的短期绝对值绝对值（变异系数（CV）小于7％）和相对再现性（类内相关系数（ICC）和Pearson≥0.97）。的可靠性ķ和ķ _ü的无水_ù TE术语（<9％CV），并在相对的术语基于重复的协议1周分析其两脚（ICC和Pearson≥0.93）。为了分析有用性，对于所有变量（1天和1周），效应大小（ES）比率=“试验性”，对于以下情况，最小价值随时间变化（SWC）比率（典型误差（TE）<SWC）=“良好” k和k _u（1天和1周）被考虑。最小差异需要考虑为k _u（ 3.5％（1天）的“真实”（MD ）；ķ _ù ≅8.5％（1凌晨ķ）（p <0.05）中的溶液获得。进行的统计分析显示在MAS测试的高再现性，可靠性和实用性，这与更一致ķ _Ú比ķ。因此，单位刚度（k _u）被证明可以代表通过自由振动技术获得的踝关节的机械响应，从而可以在不同受试者之间进行比较。