Reliability of a patient-rated forearm evaluation questionnaire for patients with lateral epicondylitis.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the reliability of a questionnaire designed to assess forearm pain and function in patients with lateral epicondylitis.


METHODS
Forty-seven patients with unilateral lateral epicondylitis completed a patient-related forearm evaluation questionnaire (PRFEQ) on two occasions. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC 2,1), standard error of measurement (SEM), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were determined for the whole group and for three subgroup comparisons of male vs. female subjects, subacute vs. chronic lateral epicondylitis, and work-related vs. non-work-related lateral epicondylitis.


RESULTS
The test-retest reliability for the overall PRFEQ (ICC, 0.89), and its pain (ICC, 0.89) and function (ICC, 0.83) subscales was excellent. Test-retest reliability for patients with work-related lateral epicondylitis (ICC, 0.80) was significantly (p = 0.018) less than for patients with non-work-related lateral epicondylitis (ICC, 0.94).


CONCLUSIONS
The PRFEQ can provide a simple, quick, and reliable estimate of arm pain and function in patients with lateral epicondylitis. However, large SEM and 95% CIs limit its ability to accurately predict individual scores.
Overend
T J
TJ
School of Physical Therapy, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
Wuori-Fearn
J L
JL
Kramer
J F
JF
MacDermid
J C
JC
D005260:Female; D005542:Forearm; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009784:Occupational Diseases; D010147:Pain Measurement; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013716:Tennis Elbow