Preliminary Evaluation Of Reliability And Criterion Validity Of Actiwatch-Score

Main Category: Pain / Anesthetics
Also Included In: Rehabilitation / Physical Therapy
Article Date: 01 Jun 2007 - 1:00 PDT

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Restoration of normal physical activity is a primary objective of most chronic pain rehabilitative interventions, yet few clinically practical objective measures of activation exist. We evaluated the measurement properties of the Actiwatch-Score (AW-S). We conducted separate trials to examine concordance between units when worn concurrently at the same and different body sites and to compare the AW-S with a validated optical three-dimensional motion-tracking system. The data indicate that the AW-S has excellent interunit reliability and good criterion validity, but its intersite reliability varies with activity type. These results suggest that this device, and those like it, warrants further investigation and is likely to yield valuable data regarding the optimal application of this technology.

The Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development (JRRD) has been a leading research journal in the field of rehabilitation medicine and technology for over 40 years. Formerly the Bulletin of Prosthetics Research, JRRD debuted in 1983 to include cross-disciplinary findings in rehabilitation. JRRD, a scientifically indexed journal, publishes original research papers, review articles, as well as clinical and technical commentary from U.S. and international researchers on all rehabilitation research disciplines.

JRRD publishes in both print and electronic formats, increasing the journal's dissemination from a hard copy circulation of 8,000 to 2.3 million Web downloads in 2005. Currently, there are over 1,000 peer-reviewed articles available in electronic format and free for downloading. JRRD will initiate an archiving program in 2005 to make all issues of JRRD and the Bulletin of Prosthetics Research available online.

Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development
Now Available Online and in Print: www.rehab.research.va.gov