Reliability of Clinical Pressure-Pain Algometric Measurements Obtained on Consecutive Days
Abstract
Background and purpose Algometers have been used to measure muscle and other soft tissue tenderness. The purpose of this study was to investigate (1) "normal" pressure-pain threshold (PPT) in the biceps brachii muscle, (2) the reliability of repeated measurements of PPT in subjects without pain over 3 consecutive days, (3) the reliability of measurements of PPT between examiners, and (4) the number of measurements required to obtain a best estimate of PPT. Subjects Thirty-five subjects participated in the study. Methods Pain-pressure threshold of the biceps brachii muscle was measured using a Fischer algometer. Three test trials were done on each subject on each of 3 days by each of two examiners. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and graphical methods were used to analyze the results. Results The ICCs revealed almost perfect reliability for measurements of PPT within and across 3 days and substantial reliability between examiners. The best estimate of PPT was obtained using the mean of the second and third trials each day. Graphical methods demonstrated that agreement between examiners was greatest at low mean pain thresholds. There was no effect for order of examiner. Conclusion and discussion The PPT is a reliable measure, and repeated algometry does not change pain threshold in healthy muscle over 3 consecutive days. The PPT can be used to evaluate the development and decline of experimentally induced muscle tenderness. Reliability is enhanced when all measuremen…
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Measurements of PPT have been shown to have good or excellent interrater and intrarater reliability.
“Measurements of PPT have been shown to have good or excellent interrater and intrarater reliability.36 -38”
From Effectiveness of Manual Therapy and Therapeutic Exercise for Temporomandibular Disorders: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2016) · cites this paper as [36]
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- Authors
- Nussbaum, E. L., & Downes, L.
- Affiliations
- Mount Sinai Hospital (CA)
- St. Michael's Hospital (CA)
- Venue
- Physical Therapy
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 1998-02-01
- Volume
- 78
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 160-169
- ISSN
- 0031-9023 (ISSN-L)
- 1538-6724
- OpenAlex
- W2117749278
- Cited by
- 416
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 34 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 19
- FWCI
- 1.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Physical Therapy (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Myofascial pain diagnosis and treatment
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Reliability and Agreement in Measurement
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
- Keywords
- pressure pain threshold, algometry, biceps brachii, muscle tenderness, inter-examiner reliability, test-retest reliability, measurement agreement, number of measurements
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Analysis of Variance, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Pain Measurement, Pressure, Reproducibility of Results, Pain Threshold, Muscle, Skeletal
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