Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27559279›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of manual & manipulative therapy2016

Inter-rater reliability of a modified version of Delitto et al.'s classification-based system for low back pain: a pilot study.

Adri T Apeldoorn, Hans van Helvoirt, Raymond W Ostelo, Hanneke Meihuizen, Steven J Kamper, Maurits W van Tulder, Henrica C W de Vet

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Article in The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

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2citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Adri T ApeldoornDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands & Rehabilitation Department, Medical Centre Alkmaar, The Netherlands.
Hans van HelvoirtMedical Back Neck Centre, The Hague, The Netherlands.
Raymond W OsteloDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Centre & Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Hanneke MeihuizenMedical Back Neck Centre, The Hague, The Netherlands.
Steven J KamperDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands & The George Institute, University of Sydney, Australia.
Maurits W van TulderDepartment of Health Sciences and the EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam,, The Netherlands.
Henrica C W de VetDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam,, The Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

STUDY

designObservational inter-rater reliability study.

objectivesTo examine: (1) the inter-rater reliability of a modified version of Delitto et al.'s classification-based algorithm for patients with low back pain; (2) the influence of different levels of familiarity with the system; and (3) the inter-rater reliability of algorithm decisions in patients who clearly fit into a subgroup (clear classifications) and those who do not (unclear classifications).

methodsPatients were examined twice on the same day by two of three participating physical therapists with different levels of familiarity with the system. Patients were classified into one of four classification groups. Raters were blind to the others' classification decision. In order to quantify the inter-rater reliability, percentages of agreement and Cohen's Kappa were calculated.

resultsA total of 36 patients were included (clear classification n = 23; unclear classification n = 13). The overall rate of agreement was 53% and the Kappa value was 0·34 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0·11-0·57], which indicated only fair inter-rater reliability. Inter-rater reliability for patients with a clear classification (agreement 52%, Kappa value 0·29) was not higher than for patients with an unclear classification (agreement 54%, Kappa value 0·33). Familiarity with the system (i.e. trained with written instructions and previous research experience with the algorithm) did not improve the inter-rater reliability.

conclusionOur pilot study challenges the inter-rater reliability of the classification procedure in clinical practice. Therefore, more knowledge is needed about factors that affect the inter-rater reliability, in order to improve the clinical applicability of the classification scheme.

Indexed as

AgreementClassificationLow back painPhysical therapyReliabilitySubgrouping

Identifiers

PMID27559279
PMCPMC4984810

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