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

    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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