Inter-Rater Reliability of Physical Examinations in a Prospective Study of Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Disorders

Objective: To test the inter-rater reliability of physical examinations for upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders. Methods: A total of 111 subjects were examined by both an occupational medicine physician and a physical therapist, who were blinded to each others' tests results and subjects&...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of occupational and environmental medicine 2010-10, Vol.52 (10), p.1014-1018
Main Authors: Smith, Caroline K., Bonauto, David K., Silverstein, Barbara A., Wilcox, Dana
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Diseases of the osteoarticular system
Female
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Miscellaneous. Osteoarticular involvement in other diseases
Musculoskeletal diseases
Musculoskeletal Diseases - diagnosis
Musculoskeletal Diseases - physiopathology
Occupational health
Occupational Medicine
Original Article
Physical Examination - methods
Physical examinations
Prospective Studies
Reproducibility of Results
Studies
Upper Extremity - physiopathology
Washington
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Summary:Objective: To test the inter-rater reliability of physical examinations for upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders. Methods: A total of 111 subjects were examined by both an occupational medicine physician and a physical therapist, who were blinded to each others' tests results and subjects' current symptoms and health histories. Results: Inter-rater reliability was moderate to excellent (0.52 to 0.88) for shoulder tests but required the inclusion of symptoms for increased inter-rater reliability of fair to excellent (0.27 to 0.57) for the elbow and hand/wrist tests. Conclusions: With the lack of "gold standard" tests, it is important that epidemiologic field studies conduct and report inter-rater reliability testing results between study examiners. It is important for researchers to report the results of inter-rater reliability, so that practitioners can weigh the results of study findings to improve both their diagnosis and treatment of these costly injuries.
ISSN:1076-2752
1536-5948
DOI:10.1097/JOM.0b013e3181f4396b