Title

Inter-rater reliability of select physical examination procedures in patients with neck pain

Authors

Authors

W. J. Hanney; S. Z. George; M. J. Kolber; I. Young; P. A. Salamh;J. A. Cleland

Comments

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Abbreviated Journal Title

Physiother. Theory Pract.

Keywords

Examination; neck pain; reliability; Rehabilitation

Abstract

This study evaluated the inter-rater reliability of select examination procedures in patients with neck pain (NP) conducted over a 24- to 48-h period. Twenty-two patients with mechanical NP participated in a standardized examination. One examiner performed standardized examination procedures and a second blinded examiner repeated the procedures 24-48 h later with no treatment administered between examinations. Inter-rater reliability was calculated with the Cohen Kappa and weighted Kappa for ordinal data while continuous level data were calculated using an intraclass correlation coefficient model 2,1 (ICC2,1). Coefficients for categorical variables ranged from poor to moderate agreement (-0.22 to 0.70 Kappa) and coefficients for continuous data ranged from slight to moderate (ICC2,1 0.28-0.74). The standard error of measurement for cervical range of motion ranged from 5.3 degrees to 9.9 degrees while the minimal detectable change ranged from 12.5 degrees to 23.1 degrees. This study is the first to report inter-rater reliability values for select components of the cervical examination in those patients with NP performed 24-48 h after the initial examination. There was considerably less reliability when compared to previous studies, thus clinicians should consider how the passage of time may influence variability in examination findings over a 24- to 48-h period.

Journal Title

Physiotherapy Theory and Practice

Volume

30

Issue/Number

5

Publication Date

1-1-2014

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

345

Last Page

352

WOS Identifier

WOS:000338001100007

ISSN

0959-3985

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