Tests of functional limitations in fibromyalgia syndrome: A reliability study

Objective. To evaluate the reliability and discriminative ability of a rest battery consisting of 7 tests designed for the assessment of functional li mitations in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Methods, The intrarater reliability of the test battery was evaluated for 1 5 women with FMS. Interrater reliability was calculated on 4 tests separate ly. Fifteen healthy women constituted a reference group. Results. The intrarater coefficient of variation was <8% for the shoulder r ange of motion tests, chair test, and 6-minute walk test, and <21% for the shoulder endurance test, with correlation coefficients above 0.80 for all t ests. Kappa was 0.70-0.80 for the hand-to-scapula tests. The interrater coe fficient of variation was <5% for shoulder range of motion. The performance s of the FMS patients were significantly decreased in comparison with healt hy subjects in all the tests except for the hand-to-scapula movement. Conclusions. All but 1 of the selected 7 tests were considered to possess a cceptable intrarater reliability for use in FMS in clinical physical therap y practice.