Article

OBJECTIVE: To assess the within-day inter-rater reliability of a test battery of
functional performance, muscle strength and leg extension power on total hip
replacement patients. DESIGN:
A test-retest design was used. SETTING: Orthopaedic
department at a Regional Hospital in Denmark. SUBJECTS: Two convenience samples
of 20 total hip replacement patients were included.
INTERVENTION: The tests were
performed three months after total hip replacement. Two raters performed test and
re-test, with two hours rest in-between. MAIN MEASURES:
The test battery
included: sit-to-stand performance, 20-metre maximum walking speed, stair climb
performance, isometric muscle strength (hip abduction/flexion), and leg extension
power. Absolute reliability was assessed with Bland Altman plots, standard error
of measurement (SEM), and minimal detectable change. Relative reliability was
assessed with intra-class correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Systematic
differences between testers were seen in tests of walking speed (0.32 seconds p =
0.03) and stair climb performance (0.18 seconds p = 0.003). In per cent of the
grand mean, the standard error of measurement was 3%-10%, indicating the
measurement error on a group level, and the minimal detectable change was
10%-27%, indicating the measurement error on an individual level. The intra-class
correlation coefficients were above 0.80 in all tests (range 0.83-0.95).
CONCLUSIONS: The tests showed acceptable relative and absolute inter-rater
reliability on a group level, but not on an individual level (except from test of
walking speed and stair climb performance). Systematic differences between
testers were considered clinically irrelevant (0.3 and 0.2 seconds).
CI - (c) The Author(s) 2014.
- PTH

Langue : ANGLAIS