Reliability of the Southampton examination schedule for the diagnosis of upper limb disorders in the general population
Reliability of the Southampton examination schedule for the diagnosis of upper limb disorders in the general population
Background: Epidemiological research in the field of soft tissue neck and upper limb disorders has been hampered by the lack of an agreed system of diagnostic classification. In 1997, a United Kingdom workshop agreed consensus definitions for nine of these conditions. From these criteria, an examination schedule was developed and validated in a hospital setting.
Objective: To investigate the reliability of this schedule in the general population.
Methods: Ninety seven adults of working age reporting recent neck or upper limb symptoms were invited to attend for clinical examination consisting of inspection and palpation of the upper limbs, measurement of active and passive ranges of motion, and clinical provocation tests. A doctor and a trained research nurse examined each patient separately, in random order and blinded to each other's findings.
Results: Between observer repeatability of the schedule was generally good, with a median ? coefficient of 0.66 (range 0.21 to 0.93) for each of the specific diagnoses considered.
Conclusion: As expected, the repeatability of tests is poorer in the general population than in the hospital clinic, but the Southampton examination schedule is sufficiently reproducible for epidemiological research in the general population.
soft tissue, upper limb, classification, examination, repeatability
1103-1106
Walker-Bone, Karen
ad7d1336-ed2c-4f39-ade5-da84eb412109
Byng, P.
3c4d1ae4-c659-4fca-8112-f399a32711dc
Linaker, Catherine
6c6d1b90-ee40-4c96-8b2e-b06efbe030ae
Reading, Isabel
6f832276-87b7-4a76-a9ed-b4b3df0a3f66
Coggon, D.
2b43ce0a-cc61-4d86-b15d-794208ffa5d3
Palmer, Keith T.
0cfe63f0-1d33-40ff-ae8c-6c33601df850
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
2002
Walker-Bone, Karen
ad7d1336-ed2c-4f39-ade5-da84eb412109
Byng, P.
3c4d1ae4-c659-4fca-8112-f399a32711dc
Linaker, Catherine
6c6d1b90-ee40-4c96-8b2e-b06efbe030ae
Reading, Isabel
6f832276-87b7-4a76-a9ed-b4b3df0a3f66
Coggon, D.
2b43ce0a-cc61-4d86-b15d-794208ffa5d3
Palmer, Keith T.
0cfe63f0-1d33-40ff-ae8c-6c33601df850
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Walker-Bone, Karen, Byng, P., Linaker, Catherine, Reading, Isabel, Coggon, D., Palmer, Keith T. and Cooper, Cyrus
(2002)
Reliability of the Southampton examination schedule for the diagnosis of upper limb disorders in the general population.
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 61 (12), .
(doi:10.1136/ard.61.12.1103).
Abstract
Background: Epidemiological research in the field of soft tissue neck and upper limb disorders has been hampered by the lack of an agreed system of diagnostic classification. In 1997, a United Kingdom workshop agreed consensus definitions for nine of these conditions. From these criteria, an examination schedule was developed and validated in a hospital setting.
Objective: To investigate the reliability of this schedule in the general population.
Methods: Ninety seven adults of working age reporting recent neck or upper limb symptoms were invited to attend for clinical examination consisting of inspection and palpation of the upper limbs, measurement of active and passive ranges of motion, and clinical provocation tests. A doctor and a trained research nurse examined each patient separately, in random order and blinded to each other's findings.
Results: Between observer repeatability of the schedule was generally good, with a median ? coefficient of 0.66 (range 0.21 to 0.93) for each of the specific diagnoses considered.
Conclusion: As expected, the repeatability of tests is poorer in the general population than in the hospital clinic, but the Southampton examination schedule is sufficiently reproducible for epidemiological research in the general population.
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Published date: 2002
Keywords:
soft tissue, upper limb, classification, examination, repeatability
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Local EPrints ID: 24542
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/24542
ISSN: 0003-4967
PURE UUID: 1aee96f7-aa14-415d-8a73-6b98a81ea295
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Date deposited: 31 Mar 2006
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 02:51
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Author:
P. Byng
Author:
Isabel Reading
Author:
D. Coggon
Author:
Keith T. Palmer
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