Sensitivity to change and responsiveness of the global physiotherapy examination (GPE-52) in patients with long-lasting musculoskeletal pain.
OBJECTIVE
The sensitivity to change and the responsiveness of the Global Physiotherapy Examination (GPE-52) were examined in patients with localized and widespread long-lasting musculoskeletal pain.


METHODS
All included patients were on sick leave and constituted the treatment group in a randomized controlled study. Two hundred forty-seven patients (64% women; mean age = 43.6 years, SD = 10.4) were included. At entry, the patients were categorized into 3 groups according to pain localization. Patients who returned fully to work were compared with those who did not.


METHODS
The GPE-52 has composite scores in 5 main domains--posture (8 tests), respiration (8 tests), movement (16 tests), muscle (12 tests), and skin (8 tests)--and was administered before and after 4 weeks of multidisciplinary outpatient treatment and at a 6-month follow-up examination. The first 61 patients also were re-examined after 18 months.


RESULTS
In this study, the GPE-52 and its 5 main domains were demonstrated to be sensitive to change, measured 6 and 18 months after treatment, in different groups of patients with long-lasting musculoskeletal pain. Responsiveness to important change, defined in this study as return to work, was found only for the total GPE-52 score and within the movement and respiration domains. Responsiveness to important change was greater in patients with localized pain than in patients with widespread pain.


CONCLUSIONS
Although the total GPE-52 score was sensitive to change in patients with long-lasting musculoskeletal pain, a shorter test battery including only the respiration and movement domain scores might be appropriate as an outcome measure in intervention studies for patients with long-lasting musculoskeletal pain.
Kvåle
Alice
A
Section for Physiotherapy Science, Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bergen, Kalfarveien 31, 5018 Bergen, Norway. alice.kvale@isf.uib.no
Skouen
Jan Sture
JS
Ljunggren
Anne Elisabeth
AE
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D011379:Prognosis; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018582:Sick Leave / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016896:Treatment Outcome