Test-retest reliability of myofascial trigger point detection in patients with rotator cuff tendonitis.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the test-retest reliability of the following clinical diagnostic characteristics of myofascial trigger points: taut band, spot tenderness, jump sign, pain recognition, referred pain and local twitch responses (LTRs).

DESIGN

Test-retest reliability study.

SETTING

This study was undertaken in an outpatient physiotherapy department.

SUBJECTS

Fifty-eight patients (31 males and 27 females) with rotator cuff tendonitis were recruited into this study.

INTERVENTION

Rotator cuff muscles were assessed by an expert for the presence or absence of the main clinical diagnostic characteristics of trigger point assessment. The process was then repeated three days later by the same expert.

MAIN MEASURES

Outcomes included the presence or absence of: a taut band, spot tenderness, jump sign, pain recognition, referred pain and LTRs.

RESULTS

Kappa values between testing situations for the taut band, spot tenderness, jump sign and pain recognition were 1. Kappa scores for referred pain ranged between 0.79 and 0.88 and for the local twitch response between 0.75 and 1 depending on the muscles under investigation.

CONCLUSIONS

The presence or absence of the taut band, spot tenderness, jump sign and pain recognition was highly reliable between sessions. Referred pain and local twitch response reliability varied depending on the muscle being studied.