The Relative Responsiveness of 3 Different Types of Clinical Outcome Measures on Chiropractic Patients with Low Back Pain
Received 19 March 2005; received in revised form 19 August 2005
Abstract
Objective
The purpose of this study is to compare the responsiveness/sensitivity of 3 fundamentally different types of outcome measures in low back pain.
Method
This study is a longitudinal evaluation of outcome measures. Thirty-one private chiropractic practices in Denmark participated in this study. The outcome measures chosen for this study are the serial measurements using the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire, the patient's prospective global assessment on a visual analog scale, and the patient's retrospective global assessment of improvement on a visual analog scale.
Results
The 3 outcome measures differed significantly in their ability to register clinical improvement, with the retrospective global assessment of improvement being the most responsive.
Conclusion
More research is needed in this area, and caution must be taken in choosing outcome measures for randomized clinical trials on low back pain.
aResearch Student, Human Locomotion Science, Institute of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense M, Denmark
bPhD Student, Human Locomotion Science, Institute of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense M, Denmark
cProfessor of Clinical Biomechanics, Human Locomotion Science, Institute of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense M, Denmark
Submit requests for reprints to: Niels Grunnet-Nilsson, DC, MD, PhD, Institute of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M, Denmark
Sources of support: The Faculty of Health Science, University of Southern Denmark, The Foundation for Chiropractic Research and Postgraduate Education, NHS, Denmark, provided support for this study.
ABSTRACT