Clinical usefulness of a cluster of sacroiliac joint tests in patients with and without low back pain.

STUDY DESIGN

Observation to examine the clinical usefulness of a cluster of sacroiliac joint tests.

OBJECTIVES

To find the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values (4 commonly used epidemiologic measures) for a cluster of sacroiliac joint tests in a group of subjects with and without low back pain.

BACKGROUND

Sacroiliac joint testing is commonly used by orthopaedic physical therapists in the evaluation of patients with low back pain.

METHODS AND MEASURES

Two hundred nineteen patients who either were being treated for low back pain or were being treated for some other condition not related to the low back participated in the study. The diagnosis of low back pain was obtained from the physician's prescription, which included low back strain, low back pain, or sacroiliac joint dysfunction, and the patient's pain drawing.

RESULTS

The results were a finding of 0.82 for sensitivity, 0.88 for specificity, 0.86 for positive predictive value of a test, and 0.84 for negative predictive value of the cluster of tests.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study show that using a cluster of sacroiliac joint tests can be useful in identifying sacroiliac joint dysfunction in patients with low back pain.