Brief ReportSelf-reported disability according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Low Back Pain Core Set: Test-retest agreement and reliability
Section snippets
Design, participants, and setting
A cross-sectional repeated measures questionnaire study was undertaken with a sample of outpatients attending a multidisciplinary service that provided conservative rehabilitative management of chronic musculoskeletal conditions at two public hospitals in Brisbane, Australia. As part of routine practice, patients who were new to the service were mailed a letter notifying them of their initial appointment details. From June–December, 2013 a study invitation letter, informed consent form, and the
Results
Thirty-eight participants completed the LBP-CS-SRC at both time-points. Of these, seven were omitted from further analyses as they either commenced treatment in-between the two LBP-CS-SRC administrations or endorsed a response other than ‘no change’ on the patient global impression of change item at time 2. Participants' demographic and clinical characteristics are contained in Table 1.
The mean (SD) time between LBP-CS-SRC administrations was 12.5 (4.5) days. PEA and kappa ranged from 74.19 to
Discussion
To the investigators' knowledge, this is the first study to examine the test-retest reliability of self-reported disability according to the LBP-CS. Patient ratings of LBP-CS categories, via the LBP-CS-SRC, generally exhibited good to excellent test-retest agreement and reliability adjusted for concordance due to chance. The test-retest reliability of the LBP-CS-SRC activity and participation scales was excellent. LBP-CS-SRC activity and participation scale scores were temporally stable (i.e.,
Conclusion
The present study investigated the test-retest agreement and reliability of a new methodological approach for assessing self-reported disability according to the LBP-CS. The LBP-CS-SRC was shown to be acceptably reliable, precise and feasible for routine application in rehabilitation research and practice. Rehabilitation clinicians and researchers may consider using the LBP-CS-SRC to measure disability and improve understanding of patients' perspectives on activity limitations and participation
Funding
The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital Foundation and the Allied Health Professions' Office of Queensland provided support. SMM is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (#1090440) (of Australia) fellowship. These agencies did not provide input on any aspect of the study, decision to publish, manuscript preparation or submission.
Conflicts of interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Author contributions
KB led the study conception and design, data collection and analysis, results interpretation, and manuscript drafting. JS provided input on the study design and interpretation of the results. PM assisted with results interpretation. SM contributed to the data analysis and results interpretation. The manuscript was critically reviewed and approved by each author.
Acknowledgement
The authors are grateful to the clinicians and, in particular, the administration officers and therapy assistants, for their assistance with data collection. The investigators appreciate the support provided by the Manager of each clinic (Darryl Lee and Louise Matthews) and the Program Manager for the statewide service (Maree Raymer). In addition, the investigators are thankful for input from Emeritus Professor Roland Sussex during the preliminary stages of this project.
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