TENDINopathy Severity Assessment – Achilles (TENDINS-A): Development and Content Validity Assessment of a New Patient-Reported Outcome Measure for Achilles Tendinopathy

Murphy, Myles C.; Newsham-West, Richard; Cook, Jill; Chimenti, Ruth L.; de Vos, Robert-Jan; Maffulli, Nicola; Malliaras, Peter; Mkumbuzi, Nonhlanhla; Purdam, Craig; Vosseller, J. Turner; Rio, Ebonie K.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To develop a new patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) assessing TENDINopathy Severity of the Achilles (TENDINS-Achilles) and evaluate its content validity.

DESIGN: Mixed-methods, modified Delphi.

METHODS: We performed 1 round of semistructured one-on-one interview responses with professionals and patients, for initial item generation. This was followed by 1 round of survey responses for professionals and a final round of semistructured one-on-one interviews with patients. The work culminated in a PROM to quantify Achilles tendinopathy severity under the core health domain of disability. Participants identified 3 subdomains contributing to the severity of disability of Achilles tendinopathy: pain, symptoms, and functional capacity.

RESULTS: All 8 patient participants invited to participate were enrolled. Forty professional participants (50% women, six different continents) were invited to participate and 30 were enrolled (75% response rate). Therefore, a total of 30 professionals and 8 patients were included within this study. Following 3 rounds of qualitative or quantitative feedback, this study has established the content validity of TENDINS-A (good relevance, comprehensibility, and comprehensiveness) as a new PROM to assess the severity of Achilles tendinopathy, which assesses aspects of pain, symptoms, and functional capacity.

CONCLUSION: TENDINS-A has established content validity and is appropriate for use with clinical and research populations. We recommend users interpret TENDINS-A results cautiously, until further testing evaluates the most appropriate scoring scale, reliability, construct validity, criterion validity, and responsiveness of TENDINS-A. Until these psychometric properties are established, we suggest using TENDINS-A alongside existing tools.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 8, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Sep 8, 2023
• Publication Date: 2024-01
• Deposit Date: Apr 25, 2024
• Journal: Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy
• Print ISSN: 0190-6011
• Electronic ISSN: 1938-1344
• Publisher: Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 54
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 70-85
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.2519/jospt.2023.11964