https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2865-5389
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ABSTRACT
Study design: Clinical measurement study.
Background: The Patient Specific Functional Scale (PSFS) is a commonly used outcome measure, however answering options differ and content validity has yet to be assessed.
Objective: To assess the content validity of the PSFS in patients with neck pain presenting to a physical therapist. And secondly, to assess the construct validity of the PSFS using the preferred version identified in the content validity study.
Methods: The target population consisted of patients with neck pain presenting to physical therapy. First, content validity was assessed through semi structured interviews and content thematic analysis. Second, construct validity was assessed on the PSFS 2.0 by examining its correlation with the Neck Disability Index (NDI).
Results: Eleven patients were interviewed. Patients indicated the concept of ‘activity limitations’ is very important to them. The PSFS is considered to be relevant and easy to understand. Patients had an explicit preference for the PSFS 2.0 version (using a different answering option and example list) and indicated they preferred to answer the PSFS 2.0 together with a clinician. One hundred patients participated in the construct validity study on the PSFS 2.0. The median PSFS 2.0 score was 4.5 and the correlation with the NDI was substantial (0.54).
Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that in individuals with neck pain, the PSFS is appropriate however; PSFS 2.0 is the preferred version. The PSFS 2.0 is considered to be valid in terms of content validity and construct validity for patients with neck pain.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
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Notes on contributors
Marloes Thoomes-de Graaf
Marloes Thoomes-de Graaf is a physio-manual therapist and clinical epidemiologist. Her PhD thesis focussed on “Evaluating shoulder pain; diagnostics and its interpretation” at the Erasmus Medical Center. Her research interests concern the spine, chronic pain and shoulder pain. She taught post graduate manual therapy students and undergraduate physiotherapy students. As a lecturer she created an entirely new educational program regarding the spine. Besides her work as a researcher, she manages a specialized physiotherapy clinic and works on several research projects and organizes the annual scientific Dutch Manual Therapy conference of the NVMT.
César Fernández-De-Las-Peñas
César Fernández-De-Las-Peñas is a Physical Therapist, Clinical Researcher and Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain where he is the division head of a research group focused on clinical pain sciences. He has 15 years of experience in clinical practice in a pain clinic focused on manual approaches for the management of chronic pain. He completed his PhD in biomedical Sciences at the Centre for Sensory Motor Interaction (SMI) in Aalborg University (Denmark) and a second PhD in Physical Therapy at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Spain). He also received a Doctoral Degree in Medical Sciences in 2012 from Aalborg University (Denmark). His research activities are concentrated on biomedical sciences within neuroscience.
Joshua A Cleland
Joshua A Cleland is a prolific scholar who contributes to the advancement of the physical therapy profession in many ways. He publishes over 20 peer-reviewed pieces per year, he mentors students and faculty in the Franklin Pierce Universtity Physical Therapy program, and travels often to deliver lectures in other institutions in the United States and abroad. He is well respected by our faculty, many of whom he has mentored since he joined our program. Dr. Cleland’s excellence in Physical Therapy has been demonstrated in a multitude of ways during his career. During the last two years Dr. Cleland received the 2016 David Lamb Memorial Award, International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapists, and was ranked as the 6th leading Medical Expert in the world on Management of Neck Pain based on his publications with in the past 10 years. In 2015, Dr. Cleland received the Rothstein Golden Pen for Scientific Inquiry Award. American Physical Therapy Association, the Rose Award in Research three consecutive years, Orthopaedic Section, from the American Physical Therapy Association and the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy Excellence in Research Award.