Journal of clinical epidemiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Use of both Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment questionnaire and Short Form-36 among tibial-fracture patients was redundant.
To compare the Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment Dysfunction Index (SMFA DI) and the Short Form-36 Physical Component Summary (SF-36 PCS) scores among patients undergoing operative management of tibial fractures. ⋯ In patients with tibial-shaft fractures, the SMFA DI offered no significant advantages over the SF-36 PCS score. These results, along with the usefulness of SF-36 for comparing populations, recommend the SF-36 for assessing physical function in studies of patients with tibial fractures.
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Mistriage can have serious consequences for patients with urgent complaints. We therefore reviewed the assessment of triage-reliability, and propose an alternative weighted kappa that accounts for severity of mistriage. ⋯ No existing studies on reliability of triage systems account for mistriage. Using triage-weighted kappa, which reflects severity of mistriage, shows that the reliability of triage systems is lower than reported.