Journal of hand therapy : official journal of the American Society of Hand Therapists
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Internet survey. ⋯ 3b.
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Retrospective repeated-measures design. ⋯ n/a.
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Comparative Study
Validity, reliability, and responsiveness of a digital version of the visual analog scale.
The design used in this study was a prospective cohort. Pain intensity levels recorded by the digital version of the visual analog scale (VAS-D) are easy to both score and share with other health care professionals. The purpose of the study was to examine the test-retest reliability, concurrent validity, and responsiveness of the VAS-D. Thirty-three people with upper extremity injuries reported pain intensity levels before and after performing four maximal grip contractions (pre- and postgripping). Our version of the VAS-D had high test-retest reliability (r=0.96) and good concurrent validity (r=0.84-0.97) with both the paper version of the VAS (VAS-P) and the verbal numerical rating scale (NRS-V). Responsiveness of the VAS-D was indicated by a significant increase in pain levels from pre- to postgripping. Similar responsiveness to that of the VAS-P and NRS-V was indicated by similar effect size coefficients and analysis of variance of pain change scores. In conclusion, the VAS-D is a reliable, valid, and responsive measure of pain intensity for people with upper extremity injuries. However, differences in accuracy (resolution) among the VAS-D, VAS-P, or NRS-V may render the three pain scales not fully compatible. ⋯ Not applicable.
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Splinting children and ensuring that children wear the splint can be challenging tasks for both the therapist and the caregiver. Sometimes creativity is needed to create a pediatric splint that is easy to don and stays in place. These authors describe their challenge with pediatric burn patients either not wearing or losing their splint and how they now combine the splint directly into the pressure garment to ensure better patient compliance