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Interexaminer reliability of six orthopaedic tests in diagnostic subgroups of craniomandibular disorders
Author(s) -
LOBBEZOOSCHOLTE A.M.,
WIJER A.,
STEENKS M.H.,
BOSMAN F.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of oral rehabilitation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.991
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1365-2842
pISSN - 0305-182X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2842.1994.tb01143.x
Subject(s) - reliability (semiconductor) , physical therapy , test (biology) , medicine , internal consistency , consistency (knowledge bases) , signs and symptoms , psychology , orthodontics , physical medicine and rehabilitation , clinical psychology , psychometrics , surgery , mathematics , paleontology , power (physics) , physics , geometry , quantum mechanics , biology
Summary Interexaminer reliability is defined as the degree of consistency among examiners when making observations of the same clinical variable. In the present study, the interexaminer reliability of six orthopaedic tests was determined in a group of 79 patients with signs and/or symptoms of craniomandibular disorders (CMD), subdivided into three subgroups of patients with a mainly myogenous, a mainly arthrogenous, and a combined myogenous and arthrogenous disorder. Multi‐test scores were composed for each test and combinations of tests for the three main symptoms of CMD, viz. pain, joint noises and restriction of movement. Although the orthopaedic tests showed different reliability scores, overall reliability of the determination of these three main symptoms of CMD was satisfactory. In the subgroups, arthrogenous signs and symptoms could be determined reliably with the set of six tests, whereas the reliability of the tests in determining pain and joint noises in the myogenous group was rather low. It may be concluded that the tests are well suited to evaluate arthrogenous signs and symptoms, but that the clinician should be aware of erroneous results of the tests in evaluating pain of a myogenous origin.