Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32082038›Full record

ArticleJournal of orthopaedics

Psychometric properties of the global rating of change scales in patients with low back pain, upper and lower extremity disorders. A systematic review with meta-analysis.

Pavlos Bobos, Christina Ziebart, Rochelle Furtado, Ze Lu, Joy C MacDermid

Registry-linked trialAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of orthopaedics. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06469762 (The Short-Term Effects of Dry Cupping the Lumbar Paraspinal Muscles in Individuals With Non-specific Low Back Pain), which is not on this map. Cited by 40 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
40citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT06469762 nacompletednot on this map

The Short-Term Effects of Dry Cupping the Lumbar Paraspinal Muscles in Individuals With Non-specific Low Back Pain: A Single-Blind Randomized Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorLakehead UniversityRan2024 to 2025Enrolled52ConditionsNon-specific Low Back PainArmsDry Cupping, Placebo Dry Cupping
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

40 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  3. Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Individualized Physical Therapy on Pain and Function in Individuals With Chronic Knee Pain: A Pilot Study.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy · 2026
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  18. How reliable are the Core Outcome Measures Index and Global Treatment Outcome as measures of treatment success after surgery for central lumbar spinal canal stenosis?European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Pavlos BobosWestern's Bone and Joint Institute, School of Physical Therapy, Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
Christina ZiebartWestern's Bone and Joint Institute, School of Physical Therapy, Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
Rochelle FurtadoWestern's Bone and Joint Institute, School of Physical Therapy, Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
Ze LuRoth McFarlane Hand and Upper Limb Centre, St. Joseph's Hospital, London, ON, Canada.
Joy C MacDermidWestern's Bone and Joint Institute, School of Physical Therapy, Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThe purpose of this systematic review was to critically appraise and synthesize the psychometric properties of the Global Rating of Change (GRoC) scales on the assessment of patients with low back pain (LBP), upper extremity and lower extremity disorders.

methodsA search was performed in 4 databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, SCOPUS) until February 2019. Eligible articles were appraised using Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) checklist and the Quality Appraisal for Clinical Measurement Research Reports Evaluation Form.

resultsThe 8 eligible studies included participants with orthopedic lumbar spine impairments (n = 52,767), patients with work-related musculoskeletal disorders (n = 1944), patients with low back pain (n = 183) and individuals with upper extremity disorders (n = 151). Risk of bias was ranging from "adequate" to "very good" and quality was found excellent for all studies. Based on pooled data, test-retest reliability of 11-item GRoC for patients with low back pain was found excellent ICC = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.65 to 0.94. Test-retest reliability in patients with shoulder pain was found fair to good ICC of 0.62 in a 15-point GRoC scale. Seven studies (n = 7) examined the convergent validity between GRoC and another outcome measure. Minimum important change on the Portuguese version of Global Perceived Effect (GPE) for patients with LBP was 2.5 points out of 11 points.

conclusionsThe current pool of clinical measurement studies indicates that the GRoC has excellent test-retest reliability for patients with low back pain, shoulder pain and with lumbar spine disorders. However, the validity of it as a reference standard in responsiveness studies or as an accurate overall assessment of change has been questioned. While future studies might provide more insight into its measurement properties, this limitation is unlikely to change. Therefore, we suggest that future responsiveness in the studies that want a global indicator measure need to use an additional measure to mitigate recall bias. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD 42020149122.

Indexed as

Global rating of changeLow back painMusculoskeletal disordersPsychometricsShoulder pain

Identifiers

PMID32082038
PMCPMC7025089

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.