PhD ceremony Mr. W. Jorritsma: Disability in patients with chronic neck pain. The clinimetric properties of instruments
| When: | We 19-06-2013 at 12:45 |
PhD ceremony: Mr. W. Jorritsma, 12.45 uur, Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, Groningen
Dissertation: Disability in patients with chronic neck pain. The clinimetric properties of instruments
Promotor(s): prof. J.H.B. Geertzen, prof. M.F. Reneman, prof. P.U. Dijkstra
Faculty: Medical Sciences
This thesis focussed on the study of clinimetric properties of instruments to measure disability in patients with non specific chronic neck pain (CNP) admitted for multidisciplinary out-patient pain rehabilitation in a tertiary rehabilitation setting. Disability can be assessed by means of questionnaires, clinical assessment (based on clinical history and physical examination), functional testing (for instance a functional capacity evaluation (FCE))or by a combination of these methods.
A patient’s self report of perceived disability is often assessed with region-specific and general health questionnaires. The most frequently used neck disability questionnaires are the neck pain and disability scale (NPAD) and the neck disability index (NDI). The Dutch language versions of both NPAD and NDI had acceptable clinimetric properties but the NDI was slightly better. After the start of the rehabilitation program approx. 33% of the patients dropped out. Based on global perceived effect scores, 59% of the patients who completed the program was completely or much recovered. The Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) is a widely used general health questionnaire. To measure self-reported general health the Dutch language version of the SF-36 has good construct validity and can be used in patients with non-specific CNP. In conclusion, for the clinician based assessment of disability during physical examination the physical dysfunction severity and the modified cervical non organic signs may offer relevant information in the biopsychosocial diagnosis of patients with CNP. For the performance based assessment of disability the proposed neck-FCE may be useful.