Inter-tester reliability of a new diagnostic classification system for patients with non-specific low back pain
(2004) In Australian Journal of Physiotherapy 50(2). p.85-94- Abstract
- Most patients referred to physiotherapy with low back pain are without a precise medical diagnosis. Identification of subgroups of non-specific low back pain patients may improve clinical outcomes and research efficiency. A pathoanatomic classification system has been developed, classifying patients with non-specific low back pain into 12 different syndromes and three subcategories based on history and physical examination. The purpose of this study was to estimate the inter-tester reliability of clinical tests used as criteria for classifying patients. Ninety patients with chronic low back pain were each examined by two physiotherapists. A total of four physiotherapists conducted the assessments, Examination findings were recorded... (More)
- Most patients referred to physiotherapy with low back pain are without a precise medical diagnosis. Identification of subgroups of non-specific low back pain patients may improve clinical outcomes and research efficiency. A pathoanatomic classification system has been developed, classifying patients with non-specific low back pain into 12 different syndromes and three subcategories based on history and physical examination. The purpose of this study was to estimate the inter-tester reliability of clinical tests used as criteria for classifying patients. Ninety patients with chronic low back pain were each examined by two physiotherapists. A total of four physiotherapists conducted the assessments, Examination findings were recorded independently by the two examiners. Percentage of agreement and kappa coefficients were calculated for each category. The overall rate of agreement was 72% and the kappa coefficient was 0.62 for the mutually exclusive syndromes in the classification system. Agreement rates for each of the syndromes ranged from 74% to 100% and kappa coefficients ranged from 0.44 to 1.00. The findings suggest the inter-tester reliability of the system is acceptable. The relatively modest level of total agreement (39%) for the system as a whole might indicate that the utility of the system for general screening purposes is limited, compared with the utility in identification of particular syndromes. Due to low prevalence of positive findings in some of the syndromes, future work should focus on testing reliability on a larger sample of patients, and testing of validity and feasibility of the system. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/274373
- author
- Petersen, Tom LU ; Olsen, S ; Laslett, M ; Thorsen, H ; Manniche, C ; Ekdahl, Charlotte LU and Jacobsen, S
- organization
- publishing date
- 2004
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- results, reliability of, physical examination, low back pain, classification, reproducibility of results
- in
- Australian Journal of Physiotherapy
- volume
- 50
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 85 - 94
- publisher
- Australian Physiotherapy Association
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000222129100004
- pmid:15151492
- scopus:3042547265
- ISSN
- 0004-9514
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Division of Physiotherapy (Closed 2012) (013042000)
- id
- 1e793e58-90f8-4213-a4ba-cb166b6bc57e (old id 274373)
- alternative location
- http://www.physiotherapy.asn.au/AJP/vol_50/2/AustJPhysiotherv50i2Petersen.pdf
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 15:28:59
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 14:01:49
@article{1e793e58-90f8-4213-a4ba-cb166b6bc57e,
abstract = {{Most patients referred to physiotherapy with low back pain are without a precise medical diagnosis. Identification of subgroups of non-specific low back pain patients may improve clinical outcomes and research efficiency. A pathoanatomic classification system has been developed, classifying patients with non-specific low back pain into 12 different syndromes and three subcategories based on history and physical examination. The purpose of this study was to estimate the inter-tester reliability of clinical tests used as criteria for classifying patients. Ninety patients with chronic low back pain were each examined by two physiotherapists. A total of four physiotherapists conducted the assessments, Examination findings were recorded independently by the two examiners. Percentage of agreement and kappa coefficients were calculated for each category. The overall rate of agreement was 72% and the kappa coefficient was 0.62 for the mutually exclusive syndromes in the classification system. Agreement rates for each of the syndromes ranged from 74% to 100% and kappa coefficients ranged from 0.44 to 1.00. The findings suggest the inter-tester reliability of the system is acceptable. The relatively modest level of total agreement (39%) for the system as a whole might indicate that the utility of the system for general screening purposes is limited, compared with the utility in identification of particular syndromes. Due to low prevalence of positive findings in some of the syndromes, future work should focus on testing reliability on a larger sample of patients, and testing of validity and feasibility of the system.}},
author = {{Petersen, Tom and Olsen, S and Laslett, M and Thorsen, H and Manniche, C and Ekdahl, Charlotte and Jacobsen, S}},
issn = {{0004-9514}},
keywords = {{results; reliability of; physical examination; low back pain; classification; reproducibility of results}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{85--94}},
publisher = {{Australian Physiotherapy Association}},
series = {{Australian Journal of Physiotherapy}},
title = {{Inter-tester reliability of a new diagnostic classification system for patients with non-specific low back pain}},
url = {{http://www.physiotherapy.asn.au/AJP/vol_50/2/AustJPhysiotherv50i2Petersen.pdf}},
volume = {{50}},
year = {{2004}},
}