title: A primer on lower extremity outcome measurement instruments.
abstract: Tracing the roots of lower extremity outcome scales is an interesting and somewhat bemusing journey. A large number of different grading methods can be found with limited reliability and/or validity testing. The usefulness of these instruments in the assessment of patient outcomes after lower extremity interventions is worrisome. This article focuses on the most commonly used scales and demonstrates an alarming and incestuous pattern of cross-validation with moderate to weak associations between potentially unreliable and crudely validated original instruments.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Saltzman
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zwior-Maron
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Hoffman
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index