Reliability and Validity of a Hong Kong Chinese Version of the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire in Patients with COPD

AbstractThe St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) is a self-administered questionnaire designed to measure quality of life (QOL) covering three areas (symptoms, activity and impacts) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of the present study was to develop a Chinese version of the SGRQ (SGRQ-HK) and assess its psychometric properties. A forward and back-translation method was used, which included professional and lay people. Psychometric and clinical evaluations included 54 patients with COPD (31 males: mean age, 71.22 ± 5.95 years; 23 females: mean age, 68.8 ± 8.64 years). An additional QOL questionnaire and clinical and physiological data were also collected. The correlation coefficient between “symptoms” and dyspnoea was 0.67, that between “activity” and the 6-minute walk test was −0.78, between “impacts” and “mental health” of the SF-36 Health Survey Mental Health Inventory was −0.62; and between “total” and “general health” of the SF-36 was −0.87. Cronbach's a ranged from 0.74 to 0.95 for the whole questionnaire and its three subscales. Test-retest reliability showed intraclass correlation coefficients of all the dimensions exceeding 0.70. The three-factor structure of the SGRQ-HK was established. In conclusion, the SGRQ-HK is reliable and valid and compares well with the original English version

Concurrent validity of an electronic descriptive pain scale

The study objective was to assess the concurrent validity of the Electronic Descriptive Pain Scale (EDPS), a pain scale built into a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation device. One hundred patients in an outpatient physiotherapy (PT) clinic participated (mean age 41.30 years, SD 13.95). Before and after a PT treatment, subjects rated their current pain intensity with the EDPS, a visual analogue scale, a numerical pain rating scale, and the McGill Pain Questionnaire's Present Pain Intensity. The results showed relatively high significant correlations between the EDPS and each of the other pain scales

Pain in the physical therapy curriculum

Pain is a leading cause of distress and disability and is central to clinical practice, but may not be central to the education of physical therapists. The purpose of this study was to determine the current status of pain topics taught in PT curricula. A questionnaire was mailed to 169 accredited PT programs in North America. Information was obtained on PT faculty's perception of the adequacy with which pain and pain related topics were taught within PT curricula, and the competency of their graduates to assess and manage pain. A response rate of 63.3 percent was obtained. Key results were as follows. The modal amount of time spent on pain was four hours. The majority of faculty thought that pain was adequately covered in their curriculum although their perceptions of graduates' competency to assess and treat individuals with pain were higher for acute than chronic pain. Unidimensional pain assessment scales were perceived as adequately covered in more programs (81.7%) than multidimensional scales (61.5%). Pain management techniques were thought to be adequately covered in over 80 percent of the programs. However, pain in the elderly and in children were not thought to be adequately covered in 57.3 percent and 76.2 percent of the programs, respectively. Only 33 percent of the respondents thought that cognitive-behavioural approaches to pain management were adequately covered. Although a large proportion of faculty perceived that the time spent on pain topics, in general, was inadequate, most perceived that an adequate time was spent when asked about specific pain topics in the curriculum. It is difficult to reconcile the discrepancy between the scant number of hours spent on the topic of pain with faculty's perceptions that, for most topics, adequate time is devoted to the area

Pain, disability, and physical therapy in older adults: issues of patients and pain, practitioners and practice

Pain in older adults is a complex multidimensional (biopsychosocial) problem that is always unpleasant and is frequently associated with physical disability, psychosocial distress, and reduced quality of life. Physical therapists knowledgeable about pain are in an excellent position to identify and manage problems related to pain and pain-related dysfunction for this older population. Unfortunately, although pain is prevalent, complex, and integral to health care, it has not been integral to health care education. Inadequate knowledge has led to inadequate assessment and management. Current evidence shows that optimum pain and disability management is predicated on a sound assessment. Optimal management of the person with pain involves education and activity guided by practitioners knowledgeable about the complexities of pain. Recommendations regarding pain and disability assessment and management by physical therapists are provided

Priorities for Occupational Therapy Research in the United Kingdom: Executive Summary of the POTTER Project

The College of Occupational Therapists commissioned the POTTER project to inform its work and the work of its research foundation. The aim was to identify its members' views about the current national priorities for occupational therapy research in the United Kingdom. A five-stage study was conducted. The main method was a national survey of the professional body's membership (n = 7000); 2,661 completed questionnaires were returned (38% response rate) and the respondents represented the current membership. The main research priority was a need for research into the effectiveness of occupational therapy. The findings have implications for research capacity building and the commissioning of occupational therapy research

The nature and value of research priority setting in healthcare: Case study of the POTTER project

Health research provides new knowledge to improve the population's health. There are limited resources to fund this research so many organisations have developed research priorities to guide commissioning. These studies often involve the use of consensus methods. The POTTER project, commissioned by the College of Occupational Therapists, is used as a case study to explore the question, 'Does there need to be less emphasis on consensus in research priority setting to ensure better investment in health?' This is because the POTTER project identified the effectiveness of occupational therapy as the top research priority for UK-based occupational therapists. This result is too broad to be useful for commissioners because any topic could potentially attract funding under this heading. So, while consensus methods may promote ownership of results, criteria-based methods, ie demographic trends, burden of disease, potential benefits and policy, are likely to promote better investment in health. Managers have not traditionally played a role in research priority setting but they should be more involved. The nature of their involvement in service delivery inevitably requires them to have different concerns to clinicians and so they are not necessarily focused on specific interventions. Generally this means they consider the wider healthcare context when research priorities are being shaped