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Technical validity, concurrent validity, reliability, and treatment sensitivity of an innovative low-cost pain
Ahmed Torad1,2, Aliaa Elabd3, Masudul Haider Imtiaz4
1Basic Science Department, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Kafr El Sheikh University, Kafr El Sheikh, Egypt.
Objective:
Valid, reliable, and low-cost tools to assess pain can enhance quantitative pain assessment in multiple settings. Therefore, we assessed the technical validity, concurrent validity, reliability, and treatment sensitivity of the Egyptian algometer, which is a low-cost pain assessment tool. We also examined clinicians' inter- and intra-rater reliability with this device.
Methods:
Technical validity of the algometer was tested by comparing the algometer to German standard weights. We tested (concurrent validity and reliability of the algometer in young healthy participants (n = 20, 27.31 ± 4.13 years), treatment sensitivity in 9 participants with discogenic sciatica (45.11 ± 14.77 years), and inter- and intra-rater reliability of 3 physical therapists who conducted all the tests. A combination of intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC(2,1) and ICC (2,3)) and Bland-Altman plots were used for all the analyses.
Results:
The Egyptian algometer (i) demonstrated a force bias of ≤ ±3% versus standard German weights; (ii) showed excellent concurrent validity and reliability (ICC > 0.9) versus Wagner algometer, and (iii) inter-and intra-rater reliability (r > 0.9) for the standard acupuncture points. The Egyptian algorithm was sensitive to capture treatment changes across different body acupuncture points in patients with discogenic sciatica (range SEM = 0.22 to 0.41; p = 0.008 to 0.021; and 95% CI = -0.176 to -2.275; Cohen's d = 0.29-0.39).
Discussion:
The Egyptian algorithm is a low-cost, valid, and reliable device to assess pain in healthy young adults. Additionally, the Egyptian algorithm can effectively capture pain treatment response in individuals with discogenic sciatica.
