Sick and Tired of Reliability?
2001; Oxford University Press; Volume: 81; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1093/ptj/81.2.774
ISSN1538-6724
Autores Tópico(s)Health Sciences Research and Education
ResumoSome readers will peruse this month's table of contents and conclude that the Journal has again indulged itself in its fixation with clinical measurement, a subject many see as irrelevant to clinical practice. I share their wish that we may see future issues devoid of measurement studies. I look forward to printing fewer measurement studies because of what we will know, because of what we will be doing—and because our focus could be on innovation and refinement. Physical therapists have among their armamentarium for clinical practice literally hundreds of measurements. New measurements seem to be suggested almost daily. We now are awash in measurements of dubious quality that are used for questionable decision making and that are chosen not for their scientific merit but for a host of other reasons. The issue remains, what does a measurement tell us? How certain can we be that a measurement truly reflects what we are trying to measure? These are real clinical issues. Similarly, it is a clinical issue when people cite or write in texts about what makes a measurement good (eg, what are acceptable levels of reliability). Why is this a clinical issue? How can there be a level of acceptability for all measurements? The acceptable error in a measurement is a clinical judgment based on how a measurement will be used. Would any of us accept the same level of error for a life-and-death decision as we would for seeing whether we can wait a week before having reconstructive surgery …
Referência(s)