Measures of upper limb function for people with neck pain: A systematic review of measurement and practical properties

Abstract

There is a strong relationship between neck pain (NP) and upper limb disability (ULD). Optimal management of NP should incorporate upper limb rehabilitation and therefore include the use of an ULD measure in the assessment and management process. Clear guidance regarding the suitability of available measures does not exist. The aim of this study was to identify all available measures of ULD for populations with NP, critically evaluate their measurement properties and finally recommend a list of suitable measures. This twophase systematic review is reported in accordance with the PRISMA statement. Phase one identified clearly reproducible measures of ULD for patients with NP. Phase two identified evidence of their measurement properties. In total, 11 papers evaluating the measurement properties of five instruments were included in this review. The instruments identified were the DASH questionnaire, the QuickDASH questionnaire, the NULI questionnaire, the SFA and the SAMP test. There was limited positive evidence of validity of the DASH, QuickDASH, NULI, SFA and SAMP. There was limited positive evidence of reliability of the NULI, SFA and SAMP. There was unknown evidence of responsiveness of the DASH and QuickDASH. Although all measures are supported by a limited amount of low quality evidence, the DASH, QuickDASH, NULI questionnaires, and the SAMP test are promising measures, but they require further robust evaluation.

Content and psychometric evaluations of questionnaires for assessing physical function in people with arm–shoulder–hand disorders. A systematic review of the literature

“…The use of different questionnaires makes the comparison of the results between studies somewhat difficult since focus, content, and assessment criteria might differ in some respects [5,6]. Some previous reviews on ASH questionnaires have been reported [7][8][9][10][11]. The included questionnaires in those reviews were not all PROMS and they focused on different areas.…”

“…When looking into the methods and checklists that were used to estimate the quality of the included questionnaires, two of the identified previous reviews [9,10] were merely descriptive and no analysis or checklist for quality estimation was used. The three remaining reviews [7,8,11] used different instruments for quality estimation. The first [7] used the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments, the COSMIN checklist [19].…”

Systematic review of the measurement properties of performance-based functional tests in patients with neck disorders

“…A fundamental component of monitoring outcomes is having reliable and valid tools with known measurement properties 13 20. While recent research has investigated the psychometric properties of patient-reported outcomes in people with neck pain,13 21 there is a gap in knowledge with respect to performance-based functional outcomes. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify and synthesise clinical measurement studies that evaluate measurement properties of performance-based functional tests in patients with neck disorders.…”

Preseason Neck Mobility Is Associated With Throwing-Related Shoulder and Elbow Injuries, Pain, and Disability in College Baseball Pitchers

“…This hypothesis is consistent with research demonstrating a relationship between cervicothoracic dysfunction and painful upper extremity conditions. 1,5,35,38,39,49 For example, a recent cohort study 42 reported that youth baseball players with a kyphosis measure of >30° had a 2.5-times greater odds of developing medial elbow injuries. This lends credence to the notion that spinal mobility impairments contribute to shoulder and elbow problems in throwing athletes.…”