CLINICAL EXAMINATION OF PELVIC INSUFFICIENCY DURING PREGNANCY - AN EVALUATION OF THE INTEROBSERVER VARIATION, THE RELATION BETWEEN CLINICALSIGNS AND PAIN AND THE RELATION BETWEEN CLINICAL SIGNS AND PHYSICAL-DISABILITY

The purpose of this study was to answer the following questions: Do cl inical signs in pregnant women with pelvic pain differ from signs in t hose without pelvic pain? Is there variation between the test signs fo und by four observers? Are the clinical signs correlated to pain and p hysical disability? Twenty pregnant women with pelvic pain and 20 preg nant women without pelvic pain were participating. Each woman reported her own pain sensation and physical disability and each woman was exa mined by 4 physiotherapists independently. Sixtyone clinical tests wer e applied. Only 8 tests showed predominantly positive signs in the pai n group. These tests showed agreement between different observers judg ed by a kappa coefficient > 0.40. The number of positive clinical sign s was well correlated to the reported pain and physical disability. Th e value of an extensive examination of posture, muscles and joints on pregnant women with pelvic pain is dubious.