Tests of functional limitations in fibromyalgia syndrome: a reliability study.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the reliability and discriminative ability of a test battery consisting of 7 tests designed for the assessment of functional limitations in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). METHODS The intrarater reliability of the test battery was evaluated for 15 women with FMS. Interrater reliability was calculated on 4 tests separately. Fifteen healthy women constituted a reference group. RESULTS The intrarater coefficient of variation was < 8% for the shoulder range of motion tests, chair test, and 6-minute walk test, and < 21% for the shoulder endurance test, with correlation coefficients above 0.80 for all tests. Kappa was 0.70-0.80 for the hand-to-scapula tests. The interrater coefficient of variation was < 5% for shoulder range of motion. The performances of the FMS patients were significantly decreased in comparison with healthy subjects in all the tests except for the hand-to-scapula movement. CONCLUSIONS All but 1 of the selected 7 tests were considered to possess acceptable intrarater reliability for use in FMS in clinical physical therapy practice.

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