Page 48 - THE PERCEPT STUDY Illness Perceptions in Physiotherapy Edwin de Raaij

Chapter 3
Physical function is the self-reported capability to perform physical activities, rather than an objective assessment of performance. This includes the functioning of one’s upper extremities (dexterity), lower extremities (walking or mobility), and central regions (neck, back), as well as instrumental activities of daily living, such as running errands23. Questionnaires assessing physical function may also have opposing scores. For instance, a high score on the Roland- Morris Disability Questionnaire indicates more limitation, but a high score on the physical functioning dimension of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey indicates less limitation. To resolve such differences, the reported association was converted so that higher scores would indicate more limitation in physical function.
Because most longitudinal studies had follow-up assessments at 3, 6, and 12 months, the authors summarized the data from the longitudinal studies by time intervals of less than 6 months, 6 to 12 months, and greater than 12 months.
Data sources and searches
Potentially relevant studies were identified through searches in the following electronic databases: PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and SPORTDiscus.
The databases were searched from inception to December 12, 2017. A comprehensive search strategy was developed in consultation with a medical information specialist (JM). The search strategy consisted of 2 major elements: musculoskeletal pain and illness perceptions. The authors used 2 search strategies for musculoskeletal pain and combined the results: one strategy used terms regarding pain in combination with musculoskeletal diseases and/or musculoskeletal systems, and the other strategy used terms regarding musculoskeletal pain. For each search, the researchers used all known synonyms and related terms to develop as sensitive a search as possible. The key terms were mapped to medical subject headings, and title and abstract search words and phrases were added.
The authors built the search string for PubMed and then translated it to the other databases. All databases were individually searched. The researchers imported identified references into RefWorks (ProQuest LLC, Ann Arbor, MI) and removed duplicates with the close deduplication algorithm from RefWorks. They manually verified the result of the automatic deduplication. The search strings for all databases are available on request from the corresponding author. In addition to the database searches, the authors also searched the gray literature, including the following electronic sources up to October 5, 2016: the DART-Europe E-theses Portal, Open Access Theses and Dissertations, Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations, ClinicalTrials.gov, and World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform.
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