Using Non-Medically Trained Examiners for Back and Neck Pain Assessment
Author Information
Author(s): Lindell Odd, Eriksson Lars, Strender Lars-Erik
Primary Institution: Karolinska Institutet
Hypothesis
Could an examiner without formal medical education be used without loss of quality in a 10-test package for patients with prolonged back and neck pain?
Conclusion
An examiner without formal medical education could be used without loss of quality for five tests that do not require manual fixation.
Supporting Evidence
- Seven of the ten tests had acceptable inter-rater reliability.
- All five tests requiring no manual fixation had acceptable reliability.
- Only one of the five tests requiring fixation had acceptable reliability.
Takeaway
This study found that people without medical training can help assess back and neck pain using certain tests, which could save money and still give good results.
Methodology
The study compared the reliability of a 10-test package performed by a physiotherapist and a research assistant without formal medical education.
Potential Biases
The use of only one examiner without medical education may not represent the reliability of all non-medically trained examiners.
Limitations
The study used only one physiotherapist as the gold standard and included a small number of healthy subjects for intra-rater reliability.
Participant Demographics
30 patients with prolonged back and/or neck pain (17 females, 13 males) and 20 healthy subjects (14 females, 6 males).
Statistical Information
P-Value
p = .01
Confidence Interval
95% CI for ICC ranged from .67 to 1.00
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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