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Responsiveness of the 24-, 18- and 11-item versions of the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire

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Abstract

Several versions of the 24-item Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) have been proposed; however, their responsiveness has not been extensively explored. The objective of this study was to compare the responsiveness of four versions of the RMDQ. Perceived disability was measured using the 24-item, two 18-item and an 11-item RMDQ on 1,069 low back pain patients from six randomised controlled trials. Responsiveness was calculated using effect size, Guyatt’s responsiveness index (GRI) and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves. Effect size analyses showed that both 18-item versions of the RMDQ were superior to the 24- and 11-item versions of the RMDQ. GRI showed that the 24- and 18-item versions of the RMDQ were similar but more responsive than the 11-item. ROC curves revealed that the 11-item was less responsive than the other three versions, which had similar responsiveness. The results of this study demonstrate that the 24-item and both 18-item versions of the RMDQ have similar responsiveness with all having superior responsiveness to the 11-item.

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Acknowledgments

Luciana Macedo holds a PhD scholarship jointly funded by the University of Sydney and the Australian Government. Chris Maher’s research fellowship is funded by Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council. Jane Latimer’s research fellowship is funded by the Australian Research Council. Luciana Machado’s postdoctoral fellowship is funded by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais, FAPEMIG, Brazil.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The George Institute for Global Health, The University of Sydney, PO Box M201, Missenden Rd, Sydney, NSW, 2050, Australia

    Luciana Gazzi Macedo, Chris G. Maher & Jane Latimer

  2. The Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, PO Box 170, Lidcombe, NSW, 1825, Australia

    Mark J. Hancock

  3. Escola de Educação Física, Fisioterapia e Terapia Ocupacional, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

    Luciana A. C. Machado

  4. Neuroscience Research Australia, The University of New South Wales, PO Box 1165, Randwick, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia

    James H. McAuley

Authors
  1. Luciana Gazzi Macedo
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  2. Chris G. Maher
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  3. Jane Latimer
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  4. Mark J. Hancock
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  5. Luciana A. C. Machado
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  6. James H. McAuley
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Correspondence to Luciana Gazzi Macedo.

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Macedo, L.G., Maher, C.G., Latimer, J. et al. Responsiveness of the 24-, 18- and 11-item versions of the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire. Eur Spine J 20, 458–463 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-010-1608-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-010-1608-2

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