Article

Secondary lymphedema is a chronic swelling of the upper limb that may
occur after treatment for breast cancer. During the acute phase, intensive
treatment with a therapist is provided, while during the maintenance phase the
patient needs to detect any re-swelling by self-examination. OBJECTIVE: To assess
the test-retest reliability and the concurrent validity of self-measurement upper
limb volume among women post-breast cancer. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study of 17
women post-breast cancer that experience a period of intensive unilateral upper
limb lymphedema treatment in the past. METHODS: On day 1 and day 10 at the
clinic, the physiotherapist measured the volume of the upper limbs with the water
displacement method (i.e. the "gold standard" for volume measure) as well as with
the more common method of plastic tape. The participants performed
self-measurement twice with the paper tape under the supervision of a
physiotherapist in the clinic. After a week the participants performed
self-measurement at home with the paper tape. RESULTS: The intra-class
correlations measures indicated excellent values for the self-measure tape
measurements on the operated side (0.97-0.99) as well as on the opposite arm
(0.96-0.99). The self-measurement revealed a moderate association with the
criterion measure, the water displacement (rp 0.59-0.68, (p < 0.05)), and strong
concurrent validity with therapist tape measurements (rp 0.88-0.95, (p < 0.05)).
CONCLUSIONS: Women post-breast cancer can self-measure upper limb volume using a
paper tape which is both, reliable and valid.

Langue : ANGLAIS