Dataset Information

The VISA-A questionnaire: a valid and reliable index of the clinical severity of Achilles tendinopathy.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There is no disease specific, reliable, and valid clinical measure of Achilles tendinopathy.

Objective

To develop and test a questionnaire based instrument that would serve as an index of severity of Achilles tendinopathy.

Methods

Item generation, item reduction, item scaling, and pretesting were used to develop a questionnaire to assess the severity of Achilles tendinopathy. The final version consisted of eight questions that measured the domains of pain, function in daily living, and sporting activity. Results range from 0 to 100, where 100 represents the perfect score. Its validity and reliability were then tested in a population of non-surgical patients with Achilles tendinopathy (n = 45), presurgical patients with Achilles tendinopathy (n = 14), and two normal control populations (total n = 87).

Results

The VISA-A questionnaire had good test-retest (r = 0.93), intrarater (three tests, r = 0.90), and interrater (r = 0.90) reliability as well as good stability when compared one week apart (r = 0.81). The mean (95% confidence interval) VISA-A score in the non-surgical patients was 64 (59-69), in presurgical patients 44 (28-60), and in control subjects it exceeded 96 (94-99). Thus the VISA-A score was higher in non-surgical than presurgical patients (p = 0.02) and higher in control subjects than in both patient populations (p<0.001).

Conclusions

The VISA-A questionnaire is reliable and displayed construct validity when means were compared in patients with a range of severity of Achilles tendinopathy and control subjects. The continuous numerical result of the VISA-A questionnaire has the potential to provide utility in both the clinical setting and research. The test is not designed to be diagnostic. Further studies are needed to determine whether the VISA-A score predicts prognosis.

SUBMITTER: Robinson JM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1724384 | biostudies-literature | 2001 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The VISA-A questionnaire: a valid and reliable index of the clinical severity of Achilles tendinopathy.

Robinson J M JM Cook J L JL Purdam C C Visentini P J PJ Ross J J Maffulli N N Taunton J E JE Khan K M KM

British journal of sports medicine 20011001 5

<h4>Background</h4>There is no disease specific, reliable, and valid clinical measure of Achilles tendinopathy.<h4>Objective</h4>To develop and test a questionnaire based instrument that would serve as an index of severity of Achilles tendinopathy.<h4>Methods</h4>Item generation, item reduction, item scaling, and pretesting were used to develop a questionnaire to assess the severity of Achilles tendinopathy. The final version consisted of eight questions that measured the domains of pain, functi ...[more]

PMID: 11579069

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundAchilles tendinopathy is the predominant overuse injury in runners. To further investigate this overload injury in transverse and longitudinal studies a valid, responsive and reliable outcome measure is demanded. Most questionnaires have been developed for English-speaking populations. This is also true for the VISA-A score, so far representing the only valid, reliable, and disease specific questionnaire for Achilles tendinopathy. To internationally compare research results, to perform multinational studies or to exclude bias originating from subpopulations speaking different languages within one country an equivalent instrument is demanded in different languages. The aim of this study was therefore to cross-cultural adapt and validate the VISA-A questionnaire for German-speaking Achilles tendinopathy patients.MethodsAccording to the "guidelines for the process of cross-cultural adaptation of self-report measures" the VISA-A score was cross-culturally adapted into German (VISA-A-G) using six steps: Translation, synthesis, back translation, expert committee review, pretesting (n = 77), and appraisal of the adaptation process by an advisory committee determining the adequacy of the cross-cultural adaptation. The resulting VISA-A-G was then subjected to an analysis of reliability, validity, and internal consistency in 30 Achilles tendinopathy patients and 79 asymptomatic people. Concurrent validity was tested against a generic tendon grading system (Percy and Conochie) and against a classification system for the effect of pain on athletic performance (Curwin and Stanish).ResultsThe "advisory committee" determined the VISA-A-G questionnaire as been translated "acceptable". The VISA-A-G questionnaire showed moderate to excellent test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.60 to 0.97). Concurrent validity showed good coherence when correlated with the grading system of Curwin and Stanish (rho = -0.95) and for the Percy and Conochie grade of severity (rho 0.95). Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) for the total VISA-A-G scores of the patients was calculated to be 0.737.ConclusionThe VISA-A questionnaire was successfully cross-cultural adapted and validated for use in German speaking populations. The psychometric properties of the VISA-A-G questionnaire are similar to those of the original English version. It therefore can be recommended as a sufficiently robust tool for future measuring clinical severity of Achilles tendinopathy in German speaking patients.

Project description:BackgroundIn sporting activities, patellar tendon is commonly subjected to overuse and it influences the athletes' career especially in elite basketball and volleyball players. A condition specific and self-administrated questionnaire is required for clinical and research purpose to rate disability. The Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment for patellar tendinopathy (VISA-P) questionnaire is widely accepted and a valid tool to assess pain and athletes, suffering from PT, ability to participate in sports. So, the objective of this study is to develop and validate Kannada version of VISA-P questionnaire among Kannada speaking population athletes.ObjectiveTo translate VISA-P questionnaire into Kannada and to study reliability and validity of Kannada version.MethodologyTranslation and cross-culture adaptation were performed according to the guidelines followed internationally. Those are: translation, synthesis, back-translation, revision by expert committee, pretesting and appraisal by advisory committee. The psychometric properties were tested by administering the questionnaire to 70 subjects (35 symptomatic and 35 asymptomatic). For test-retest reliability, athletes with patellar tendinopathy were tested twice within a week and test-retest reliability was assessed by Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). The validity was tested by comparing the VISA-P-Kannada questionnaire (VISA-P-K) against Blazina classification of patellar tendinopathy (BCPT) using Spearman correlation coefficient.ResultThe test-retest reliability was excellent (ICC 0.97). Internal consistency was found to be good (Cronbach's alpha = 0.98). The VISA-PK showed significant correlation by comparing against Blazina and Spearman's score (r = 0.72, p < 0.01).ConclusionThe VISA-P-K translation and adaptation processes were successful. The adapted instrument demonstrated good psychometric properties. The VISA-P-K has proven to be reliable and valid tool and can be used in the Kannada speaking patients with patellar tendinopathy.

Project description:ObjectivesUltrasound often corroborates clinical diagnosis of Achilles tendinopathy (AT). Traditional measures assess macromorphological features or use qualitative grading scales, primarily focused within the free tendon. Shear wave imaging can non-invasively quantify tendon elasticity, yet it is unknown if proximal structures are affected by tendon pathology. The purpose of the study was to determine the characteristics of both traditional sonographic measures and regional shear wave speed (SWS) between limbs in patients with AT.MethodsTwenty patients with chronic AT were recruited. Traditional sonographic measures of tendon structure were measured. Regional SWS was collected in a resting ankle position along the entire length of the tendon bilaterally. SWS measures were extracted and interpolated across evenly distributed points corresponding to the free tendon (FT), soleus aponeurosis (SA), and gastrocnemius aponeurosis (GA). Comparisons were made between limbs in both traditional sonographic measures and regional SWS.ResultsSymptomatic tendons were thicker (10.2 (1.9) vs. 6.8 (1.8) mm; p < 0.001) and had more hyperemia (p = 0.001) and hypoechogenicity (p = 0.002) than the contralateral tendon. Regional SWS in the FT was lower in the symptomatic limb compared to the contralateral limb (11.53 [10.99, 12.07] vs. 10.97 [10.43, 11.51]; p = 0.03). No differences between limbs were found for the SA (p = 0.13) or GA (p = 0.99).ConclusionsLower SWS was only observed in the FT in AT patients, indicating that alterations in tendon elasticity associated with AT were localized to the FT and did not involve the proximal passive tendon structures.Key points• Baseline characteristics of a pilot sample of 20 subjects suffering from chronic Achilles tendinopathy showed differences in conventional sonographic measures of tendon thickness, qualitatively assessed hypoechogenicity, hyperemia, and quantitative measures of shear wave speed. • Regional shear wave speeds were lower in the free tendon but not in the proximal regions of the soleus or gastrocnemius aponeuroses in Achilles tendinopathy patients. • Using shear wave imaging to estimate tendon stiffness may prove beneficial for clinical validation studies to address important topics such as return to activity and the effectiveness of rehabilitation protocols.

Dataset Information

The VISA-A questionnaire: a valid and reliable index of the clinical severity of Achilles tendinopathy.

Background

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

The VISA-A questionnaire: a valid and reliable index of the clinical severity of Achilles tendinopathy.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets