Skip Navigation



Rheumatology Advance Access published online on February 3, 2006
Rheumatology, doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kei267
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
45/7/890    most recent
kei267v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Terwee, C. B.
Right arrow Articles by Dekker, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Terwee, C. B.
Right arrow Articles by Dekker, J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology 2006.
Received April 22, 2005
Accepted November 22, 2005

Original Papers

Performance-based methods for measuring the physical function of patients with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee: a systematic review of measurement properties

C. B. Terwee 1 *, L. B. Mokkink 1, M. P. M. Steultjens 2, and J. Dekker 2

1 EMGO Institute, VU University Medical Center; Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2 EMGO Institute, VU University Medical Center; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, VU University Medical Center; Amsterdam, The Netherlands

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
C. B. Terwee, E-mail: cb.terwee{at}vumc.nl


  Abstract

Objective. To systematically review the measurement properties (i.e. internal consistency, reproducibility, validity, responsiveness and interpretability) of all performance-based methods which have been used to measure the physical function of patients with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee.

Methods. A systematic search was conducted in Medline, CINAHL, PsychINFO and Embase. Standardized criteria were applied to assess the quality of the clinimetric studies and the measurement properties.

Results. Twenty-six performance-based methods were included: 13 walking tests, two stair-climb tests, one chair test and ten multi-item tests. Three out of seven multi-activity tests were tested for internal consistency and two were rated positively. Fourteen tests were tested for reliability and five were rated positively. The absolute measurement error (agreement) was assessed for 10 tests. Only one test received a positive rating. Fourteen tests were tested for construct validity. Only two tests received positive ratings. Responsiveness was assessed for 12 tests, but none of them received a positive rating. A lot of indeterminate ratings were given, mostly for small studies or non-optimal analyses.

Conclusion. Many more well-designed studies are needed to assess the measurement properties of performance-based methods. More importantly, however, before one can make a justified choice of a particular performance-based method, consensus is needed on what activities should be included in a performance-based test for patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis and which aspects of function should be measured.

Keywords: Osteoarthritis; Systematic review; Performance-based method; Reproducibility of results; Validation study.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.