Only a limited number of the identified instruments for the assessment of impairments is both reliable and valid .
The objective of this study is to provide a critical overview of available instruments to assess impairments in patients with rheumatic disorders , and to recommend reliable and valid instruments for use in allied health care and rehabilitation medicine .
The Beck Depression Inventory, Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and General Well-Being Schedule depression subscale in rheumatoid arthritis. Criterion contamination of responses.
Three widely used  depression scales -- the  Beck Depression Inventory ( BDI ) , Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale ( CES-D ) , and  General Well-Being Schedule depression subscale (GWB-D)--were studied in rheumatoid arthritis ( RA ) . Twenty-three rheumatologists identified 19 of the 45 items on these three question naires as likely to differ in patients with RA and control subjects because of the presence of RA , regardless of psychological status . Responses to 13 of these 19 individual scale items , design ated as " RA-related items , " differed significantly in 41 RA patients versus 57 age-matched control subjects . Only three of the other 26 items differed significantly in the two groups . These data extend evidence that responses of people with RA on widely used depression scales might be affected by somatic disease regardless of psychological status
Only a limited number of the identified instruments for the assessment of impairments is both reliable and valid .
The objective of this study is to provide a critical overview of available instruments to assess impairments in patients with rheumatic disorders , and to recommend reliable and valid instruments for use in allied health care and rehabilitation medicine .