@article{16712,
  author = {Franco Marcia and Ferreira P. and Hodges P. and Pinto R. and Franco H. and Ferreira Manuela},
  title = {Reliability and discriminatory capacity of a clinical scale for assessing abdominal muscle coordination},
  abstract = {<p>
OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the reliability and discriminatory capacity of a novel clinical scale for assessing abdominal muscle coordination. We investigated the interrater reliability of this tool in patients with chronic low back pain (LBP) (reliability section); the ability of this tool to discriminate healthy and LBP subjects (discriminatory section); and the association between the score and measures of pain, disability, and kinesiophobia (correlation section). METHODS: For the reliability section of this study, 14 patients with chronic LBP were included. For the discriminatory section, 10 patients with chronic LBP and 10 pain-free controls were recruited. In the correlation study, data from the 10 chronic LBP patients in the discriminatory section were used. The clinical test was conducted by a blinded examiner while the subjects attempted to independently activate transversus abdominis separate from the rest of the abdominal muscles (hollowing or draw-in maneuver). The intraclass correlation coefficients, receiver operating characteristic curve, and Pearson r correlation coefficients were calculated to assess reliability and validity. RESULTS: An intraclass correlation coefficient((2,1)) of 0.72 (95% confidence interval, 0.33-0.90) was recorded for interrater reliability. The tool correctly identified the subject condition in 97% of the cases. The score did not correlate substantially with any clinical measures, with Pearson r ranging from 0.122 (P = .737) to 0.493 (P = .148). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the proposed scale is a reliable tool and may be useful in discriminating patients with chronic LBP from pain-free controls. The poor correlation between the score and clinical measures may be due to the multidimensional nature of chronic LBP.
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},
  year = {2011},
  journal = {Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics},
  volume = {34},
  edition = {2011/09/20},
  number = {8},
  pages = {562-9},
  month = {229478235459},
  isbn = {1532-6586 (Electronic)0161-4754 (Linking)},
  note = {Pinto, Rafael ZFranco, Heitor RFerreira, Paulo HFerreira, Manuela LFranco, Marcia RHodges, Paul WResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tUnited StatesJournal of manipulative and physiological therapeuticsJ Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2011 Oct;34(8):562-9. Epub 2011 Sep 15.},
  language = {eng},
}