Use of modified Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire in patients with postirradiation neck disability: validation study

Head Neck. 2004 Dec;26(12):1031-7. doi: 10.1002/hed.20102.

Abstract

Background: No available measure exists for postirradiation neck disability. Adoption of the Chinese Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire (NPQ) for patients with postirradiation neck disability was examined in this study.

Methods: Eight physiotherapists and five patients were invited to test the validity of the content. Forty-three patients with neck disability were recruited to evaluate test-retest reliability and internal consistency. The level of neck discomfort, range of neck motion and maximal isometric neck muscle strength, and SF-36 health score were measured for construct validity testing.

Results: The questionnaire had good content validity, a high degree of test-retest reliability, internal consistency (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC], 0.94; Cronbach's alpha, 0.88), and good construct validity. NPQ correlated significantly with most of the subscores of SF-36 (r(s), -0.43 to - 0.71) and numeric rating scale (r(s) = 0.69).

Conclusion: The modified Chinese NPQ was found to be reliable and valid for the evaluation of postirradiation neck disability.

Publication types

  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Disability Evaluation
  • Female
  • Hong Kong
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / pathology
  • Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / radiotherapy*
  • Neck Pain / diagnosis*
  • Neck Pain / epidemiology*
  • Neck Pain / etiology
  • Pain Measurement
  • Physical Therapy Modalities / standards*
  • Radiation Injuries / complications
  • Radiation Injuries / diagnosis
  • Range of Motion, Articular / physiology
  • Reference Values
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Risk Assessment
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Sex Factors
  • Surveys and Questionnaires*