Development of a clinical prediction rule to identify initial responders to mobilisation with movement and exercise for lateral epicondylalgia

Bill Vicenzino, Dugal Smith, Joshua Cleland and Leanne Bisset

The aim of this analysis was to develop a preliminary clinical prediction rule (CPR) for identifying patients with lateral epicondylalgia likely to respond to mobilisation with movement and exercise. Analyses resulted in a CPR that included: age, as well as pain free grip strength on the affected and unaffected side . Probability of improvement rose from 79 to 100% if all three were positive. The CPR did not predict outcome for wait and see indicating it was more accurate for PT.

This post hoc analysis has created a Level IV CPR that with further validation will help practitioners identify responders. Future studies are required to validate the rule.

Manual Therapy, 1 October 2008, online article ahead of print

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