## Abstract Decisions on treatment choice for patients are based on trials and outcome studies that are wholly dependent upon the scientific quality of the rating scales used. This study reviewed rating scales used in cervical dystonia outcome research to determine the extent that they satisfy reco
Re: Patient-based outcomes of cervical dystonia: A review of rating scales
β Scribed by Joerg Mueller; Gregor K. Wenning; Werner Poewe; Georg Kemmler
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2005
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 36 KB
- Volume
- 20
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0885-3185
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
β¦ Synopsis
We read with interest the review of Cano and colleagues 1 on rating scales for cervical dystonia (CD). The authors performed a computerized database search (from 1966 to 2002) on rating scales for CD in the English language, and state that none of the 10 identified CD-specific rating scales satisfy the recommended criteria for health measurement rating scales defined by the Scientific Advisory Group of the Medical Outcomes Trust (SAC). 2 They also include the Craniocervical Dystonia Questionnaire (CDQ-24), which was developed and validated recently. 3 Because our study on the development and validation of the CDQ-24 was not published as a full-length original paper and only was available in abstract form 4 at the time when Cano and associates submitted their review, key aspects of our scale are not appreciated. In fact, our study clearly shows that the CDQ-24 fulfills the essential criteria for health measurement rating scales defined by the SAC, including reliability, validity, and responsiveness to therapy. 3 Regarding reliability, both measures used showed satisfactory values across all subscales of the CDQ-24 (internal consistency, β£ Ο 0.77-0.89; testretest reliability, ICC ΟΎ 0.9). Validity, assessed by checking convergent and discriminant validity as well as the dimensional structure of the CDQ-24, was shown to be good or satisfactory in all respects. Responsiveness was confirmed by highly significant improvements on all CDQ-24 subscales in de novo patients after botulinum toxin treatment. Although only the original German version was validated, an exact translation into English including back-translation was performed to ensure accuracy and this English version of the CDQ-24 was published together with the original paper. 3 Cano and colleagues criticize that the CDQ-24 was not exclusively developed for patients with CD. However, in our study, we separately validated the novel scale in patients with cranial as well as cervical dystonia with respect to discriminant validity and sensitivity to change showing similar clinimetric properties in both patient groups. Therefore, we believe that the CDQ-24 is the first patient-based rating scale both for cranial and cervical dystonia that shows satisfactory performance in terms of the major quality criteria, including reliability, validity, and responsiveness to therapy.
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