Evaluating a sensitive issue: reliability of a clinical evaluation for allodynia severity

Packham, Tara L.; Spicher, Claude J.; MacDermid, Joy C.; Quintal, Isabelle; Buckley, Norman D.

doi:10.1080/08990220.2019.1704242

Back

Journal article

Evaluating a sensitive issue: reliability of a clinical evaluation for allodynia severity

Packham, Tara L. School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Institute of Applied Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
Spicher, Claude J. Translational Neurosciences Institute, Department of Neurosciences and Movement Sciences, Faculty of Sciences an dMedicine, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
MacDermid, Joy C. School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Institute of Applied Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
Quintal, Isabelle School of Rehabilitation, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada
Buckley, Norman D. Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

20.12.2019

Published in:

Somatosensory & Motor Research. - 2019, p. 1–6

English Allodynia is a common feature of neuropathic pain with few validated clinical evaluation options. We identified a need to estimate the measurement properties of the standardised evaluation procedure for static mechanical allodynia severity popularised by the somatosensory rehabilitation of pain method, known as the rainbow pain scale. This study (www.clinicaltrials.gov. NCT02070367) undertook preliminary investigation of the inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the rainbow pain scale.Methods: Persons with pain in one upper extremity after Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, a peripheral nerve injury or a recent hand fracture were recruited for assessment of static mechanical allodynia threshold using calibrated monofilaments by two raters at baseline, and repeated assessment one week later.Results: Single measures estimates suggested inter-rater reliability was substantial for the rainbow pain scale [intra-class correlation coefficient = 0.78 (n = 31), p < 0.001]. Test-retest reliability was also excellent at with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.87 [n = 28, p < 0.001]. However, confidence intervals suggest the true values could be more moderate, with lower bounds of the 95% confidence interval at 0.60 and 0.74, respectively.Conclusions: This pilot study has generated preliminary support for the inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the rainbow pain scale. Future studies should seek to increase confidence in estimates of reliability, and estimate validity and responsiveness to change in persons with somatosensory disorders.

Faculty

Faculté des sciences et de médecine

Department

Département de Médecine

Language