Reliability of the assessment of impairments and disabilities in survey research in the field of physical therapy

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate the reliability of diagnostic assessment based on clinical observations by physical therapists. DESIGN: interobserver studies between two pairs of physical therapists. SETTING: two primary-care physical therapy practices. PATIENTS: all applying to the practices for treatment. EXCLUSIONS: physical therapy in previous 3 months, or need for acute treatment. ASSESSMENTS: schedule derived from the ICIDH. RESULTS: agreement on disabilities better than on impairments, the latter revealing problems particularly with pain and restricted range of motion. CONCLUSIONS: reliability of assessments of most of the categories considered was reliable; in two categories the reliability was poor, and the categories were modified.