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 .
Studies with an enthesis index as a method of clinical assessment in ankylosing spondylitis.
The histopathological characteristic of ankylosing spondylitis ( AS ) is the presence of chronic enthesitis . Our aim was to develop a clinical measurement of the severity of tenderness over entheses . The scoring system was based on the patients ' response to palpation over entheses easily accessible to examination . The enthesis index ( EI ) correlated with pain ( r = 0.67 , p less than 0.01 ) and stiffness ( r = 0.46 , p less than 0.05 ) scores . A single , blind , crossover study was conducted to determine the sensitivity of the index to change in clinical state associated with non-steroidal antirheumatic drug therapy and to record the interobserver variability . The index showed significantly lower scores after one week 's drug treatment ( p less than 0.05 ) . The EI is a convenient , non-invasive measure of disease severity in patients with AS . Potential applications include the assessment of enthesitis in other polyarthritides and a means of distinguishing clinical ly between severity of enthesitis and synovitis in different types of polyarthritis
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 .