Interrater reliability of performing a step-by-step procedure for selected pain provocation tests for hamstrings and special tests for other lower extremity musculoskeletal injuries

Objective@#Our study aims to establish interrater reliability in performing the step-by-step procedure of selected pain provocation tests for hamstrings and special tests for lower extremity musculoskeletal injuries. @*Study Design@#An interrater reliability study @*Setting@#University of Santo Tomas - Sports Science Laboratory @*Participants@#Ten healthy adults (five females, five males; age = 22.2 ± 0.42) from the university community. @*Main outcome measures@#Interrater reliability of performing step-by-step procedures for selected pain provocation tests for hamstrings (painful resisted knee flexion 90°, painful resisted knee flexion 30°, active slump test, Puranen-Orava Test, bent knee stretch) and special tests for lower extremity musculoskeletal injuries (Lachman’s test, McMurray’s test, posterior drawer test, valgus, and varus stress test). @*Results@#Fleiss kappa showed perfect agreement (κ = 1.00) for all test procedures except for Lachman’s test procedure 1 (κ= -0.11 [95% CI, -0.36 to 0.14]), active slump test procedure 4 (κ= -0.03 [95% CI, -0.28 to 0.23]), active slump test procedure 5 (κ= -0.11 [95% CI, -0.28 to 0.23]), and active slump test procedure 6 (κ= -0.05 [95% CI, -0.31 to 0.20]), which resulted in negative agreements. @*Conclusions@#The researcher developed protocols for each special and provocative test were consistent in measuring the intended procedures, and the raters were generally consistent with their ability to measure these tests.

A study of psychometric properties of modified rivermead mobility index.

Background : To evaluate the effect treatment on mobility various studies have used. But responsiveness of Rivermaid mobility Index has found to be poor as items are scored on a dichotomous (yes/no) basis. MRMI is a modified version of RMI to increase the responsiveness of the measure which is not studied in depth by many studies. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate in detail interrater reliability ,validity & responsivenss of Modified Rivermaid Mobility Index. Methodology : Patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria were assessed with the help of RMI , MRMI & STREAM at three different occasions i.e. on15th,30th& 90thday to study validity & responsiveness. For studying interrater reliability three measures were assessed by two physical therapists blinded to the results of each other. Results: The 3 mobility measures were highly responsive in detecting changes before 90 days after stroke onset (14 to 30 days, SRM BORDER="0">1.14; 30 to 90 days, SRM0.83;) The medians of the weighted statistic for each item of RMI, MRMI, and STREAM were 0.81 (range, 0.37 to 0.94), 0.83(range, 0.47 to 0.9), and 0.89 (range, 0.55 to 0.89), respectively, indicating generally acceptable interrater agreement on the item level. Conclusion: It is concluded that MRMI is a valid ,reliable & sensitive measure as compared to RMI.

The Test of Infant Motor Performance (TIMP) in Preterm and Term Infants

OBJECTIVE: To assess motor development of preterm and term infants using the test of infant motor performance (TIMP) and to compare the reliability of the TIMP measuring by different raters. METHOD: 55 preterm and term infants were tested with the TIMP at ages ranging from 35 weeks postconceptional age to 14 weeks corrected age. A linear correlation analysis was used to assess the contributions of age, risk, and radiologic findings to the variance in TIMP scores. In the reliability study, the TIMP was administered to the infants by an occupational therapist, and infant performances were videotaped. The performance was then rescored by another tester to examine the interrater reliability. RESULTS: No significant correlations between infant variables and TIMP score changes were revealed. In the reliability study, statistically significant correlation between two raters was found (Cohen's kappa: 0.959, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: TIMP has a good interrater test reliability for use in clinical practice to assess infant motor performance. But the TIMP could not discriminate among infants with differing risks for motor developmental delay. Further evaluation and follow up survey is necessary to find correlation between the development process and medical risk factor among the participated subjects in this study.

Interrater and Intrarater Reliability Test of Functional Independence Measure (FIM) in Activities of Daily Living (ADL) Evaluation

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to test interrater & intrarater reliability of FIM. METHOD: We trained 7 members in our rehabilitation team with educational FIM manual and videotape published at State University of New York. After training workshop and several practice of FIM, videotaped FIM of the 10 patients with stroke were evaluated twice at 30 days interval by 7 trained testers. With each FIM data interrater & intrarater correlations were analyzed. RESULTS: Both interrater & intrarater reliability of FIM was significantly high. And the results of intrarater reliability were more reliable than those of interrater reliability. Also motor FIM components were more reliable than cognition FIM components. CONCLUSION: With proper training of the testers, FIM could be used as a standard assessment tool in a rehabilitation unit to quantify patients' disability.

Interrater Reliability in the Content Analysis of Preparatory Information for Mechanically Ventilated Patients / 기본간호학회지

In nursing research that the data is collected through clinical observation, analysis of clinical recording or coding of interpersonal interaction in clinical areas, testing and reporting interrater reliability is very important to assure reliable results. Procedures for interrater reliability in these studies should follow two steps. The first step is to determine unitizing reliability, which is defined as consistency in the identification of same data elements in the record by two or more raters reviewing the same record. Unitizing reliability have been rarely reported in previous studies. Unitizing reliability should be tested before progressing to the next step as precondition. Next step is to determine interpretive reliability. Cohen's kappa is a preferable method of calculating the extent of agreement between observer or judges because it provides beyonds-chance agreement. Despite its usefulness, kappa can sometimes present paradoxical conclusions and can be difficult to interpret. These difficulties result from the feature of kappa which is affected in complex way s by the presence of bias between observers ad by true prevalence of certain categories. therefore, percentage agreement should be reported with kappa for adequate interpretation of kappa. The presence of bias should be assessed using the bias index and the effect of prevalence should be assessed using the prevalence index. Researchers have been reported only global reliability reflecting the extent to which coders can consistently use the whole coding system across all categories. Category-by-category reliability also need to be reported to inform the possibility that some categories are harder to use than others.