A physiotherapy test package for assessing back and neck dysfunction - discriminative ability for patients versus healthy control subjects

• Published in: Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy Vol. 4; no. 2; pp. 123 - 140
• Main Authors: Ljungquist, Therese, Fransson, Britt, Harms-Ringdahl, Karin, Björnham, Åke, Nygren, Åke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 1999
• Subjects: Adult; Back Pain - rehabilitation; Exercise Test; Female; Humans; Male; measurement; Middle Aged; Muscle, Skeletal - physiology; Neck Pain - rehabilitation; Physical Fitness; physical function; Physical Therapy Modalities; physiotherapy; Predictive Value of Tests; Sensitivity and Specificity; Task Performance and Analysis; validity
• ISSN: 1358-2267; 1471-2865
• DOI: 10.1002/pri.158

Background and Purpose A physiotherapy test package of 10 tests designed for assessing dysfunction due to back or neck pain was tested for its ability to discriminate between back‐ or neck‐pain sufferers and healthy control subjects. Twenty‐seven patients and 26 healthy control subjects participated in the study. Method Fifteen patients suffering from back or neck pain and 15 matched healthy control subjects were assessed using the package to compare the results between the groups. The results from a further 12 back‐ or neck‐pain sufferers and 11 unmatched healthy control subjects were analysed with respect to sensitivity and specificity, cluster formation and correlation with ratings of pain and perceived exertion. Results The differences in the test results for the patients and the matched healthy control subjects were highly significant in all variables but one. High sensitivity for cut‐off points of clinical relevance was found in all variables but one, whereas specificity was moderate in most variables. Conclusions Despite the small sample size, the significant differences between patients and healthy control subjects, with the sensitivity and specificity figures, suggest that the content validity of the test package is satisfactory. Copyright © 1999 Whurr Publishers Ltd.