Interrater reliability in the assessment of physiotherapy students.

BACKGROUND: Reliable and objective assessment of psychomotor skills in physiotherapy students' education is essential for direct feedback and skill improvement. The aim of this study is to determine the interrater reliability in the assessment process of physiotherapy students and to analyse the assessment behaviour of the examiners. METHODS: Physiotherapy teachers from two different schools assessed students from two different schools performing proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) patterns. An evaluation sheet with a 6-point rating scale and 20 evaluation criteria including an overall rating was used for assessment. The interrater reliability was determined calculating an intraclass-correlation coefficient (ICC) and Krippendorff's alpha. The assessment behaviour of the examiners was further analysed calculating the location parameters and showing the item response distribution over item in form of a Likert plot. RESULTS: The ICC estimates were mostly below 0.4, indicating poor interrater reliability. This was confirmed by Krippendorff's alpha. The examiners showed a certain central tendency and intergroup bias. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The interrater reliability in this assessment format was rather low. No difference between the two physiotherapy schools concerning the interrater reliability could be identified. Despite certain limitations of this study, there is a definite need for improvement of the assessment process in physiotherapy education to provide the students with reliable and objective feedback and ensure a certain level of professional competence in the students. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was approved by the ethics committee of the Medical Faculty RWTH Aachen University (EK 340/16).

[S2k-Guideline on Meniscal Disease: Non-operative and Surgical Management]. / S2k-Leitlinie Meniskuserkrankung: konservative und operative Therapie.

A meniscal injury should not automatically lead to surgery. Even in light of all the developments in arthroscopic surgery, non-operative management still has a place in the treatment algorithms for lesions around the knee. In this second publication of the German guidelines for meniscal surgery, the authors describe the various treatment possibilities, their indications and offer critical insight into the various therapeutic options. This will allow the patient and physician alike to make the proper individual decisions. Various German speaking associations addressing topics surrounding the knee have joined forces to develop these guidelines for meniscal lesions. The hope is that these two publications on the topic will shed light on the ongoing debate and offer some guidance.