Evaluation of a Patient-Specific Index as an outcome measure for physiotherapy in Parkinson's disease

AIM

The aim of this paper was to develop and evaluate a patient-specific index for physiotherapy in Parkinson's disease (PSI-PD).

METHODS

In the PSI-PD, patients 1) select problematic activities out of a predefined list, with one self-report item; 2) rank selected items in order of importance; and 3) rate severity for each ranked item. To examine test-retest reliability, a cohort of patients was asked to complete the PSI-PD twice. Afterwards, validity was evaluated using a telephone interview.

RESULTS

The PSI-PD was completed twice by 81 patients. Test-retest agreement for the selection of activity limitations was 73% to 94%. Items ranked by patients were categorized into domains, of which gait, transfers and dexterity were rated most frequently (41%-70%). Test-retest agreement for ranked domains ranged from 74% to 82%. Interviews confirmed that the PSI-PD reliably identified problem areas.

CONCLUSIONS

The PSI-PD is a relevant, reliable and valid instrument to identify limitations in everyday activities that are important for both PD patients and physiotherapists.

Quality indicators for physiotherapy in Parkinson's disease

AIM

The aim of this study was to develop quality indicators for physiotherapy in Parkinson's disease (PD) according to international criteria.

METHODS

Indicators were based on an evidence-based guideline for physiotherapy in PD. Guideline recommendations were transformed into indicators and rated for their relevance by an expert panel. Relevant indicators were incorporated into a questionnaire termed ''Quality Indicators for Physiotherapy in PD'' (QIP-PD). The QIP-PD was piloted among 105 physiotherapists. The adjusted version was evaluated in 46 physiotherapists with specific expertise in PD and in 795 general physiotherapists. The following clinimetric aspects of the QIP-PD were tested: completeness of answers, response distribution, internal consistency, and discriminative power. The reliability of the QIP-PD was evaluated by interviews among a randomly selected cohort of 32 PD experts and 32 general physiotherapists.

RESULTS

The expert panel selected 16 indicators, which were transformed into an adjusted 17-item QIP-PD. The adjusted QIP-PD was completed by 41 expert physiotherapists and 286 general physiotherapists. Comple-teness of item scores ranged from 95-98%. Six items were excluded from the final analyses as they showed ceiling effect among both groups, or lacked discriminative power. The total QIP-PD score for the 11 items was significantly higher for expert physiotherapists (35.1+/-4.2) compared to general physiotherapists (22.2+/-7.7; P=0.01). Internal consistency was good (Crohnbach's alpha 0.84). QIP-PD scores of therapists and interviewers (correlated using Intraclass Correlations Coefficients) ranged from 0.63 to 0.75.

CONCLUSIONS

The QIP-PD is a relevant, feasible, valid, discriminative and reliable instrument to measure adherence to guidelines for physiotherapy in PD. In addition, the results underscore that quality improvement interventions for physiotherapy in PD are needed, as guideline adherence is suboptimal in physiotherapists without specific PD expertise.