The Reliability and Validity of the Ten Test and Exploring a New, Visual Version

Abstract

<p>Sensation threshold assessment is an important component of physical assessment. Current literature has either limited information on the clinical measurement properties of sensory threshold tests, or has demonstrated concerns in reliability, validity, responsiveness and/or clinical utility. The Ten Test (TT) is an easy and quantifiable test of moving light touch sensation requiring no equipment, however; evidence regarding its reliability and validity are limited. In this thesis, I explored the test-retest reliability and concurrent validity of the Ten Test. I also developed a new, visual version of the Ten Test which was assessed for concurrent validity and patient preferences. The results showed that the Ten Test has excellent test-retest reliability (ICC: 0.83 – 0.91), with acceptable minimal detectable change scores (MDC90 = 1.57 – 2.15). Ten Test scores did not correlate with current perception threshold or vibration perception threshold scores. The visual version of the Ten Test demonstrated high concurrent validity to the original version of the Ten Test (Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient r = 0.74 – 0.90), and was preferred by participants (85.7%).</p>