From: Sigmund Miller, DC
Dean of Academic Affairs
Texas Chiropractic College
281.998.6058
(webinfo@ChiroViewPresents.com)


ChiroView Presents  Copenhagen Neck Functional Disability Scale

Previous broadcasts regarding other outcome assessment tools 
[OATS], included Roland Morris and Oswestry Surveys for mid and 
low back, and the Neck Disability Index [NDI] for neck. Another one I 
believe to be excellent, for the cervical spine, is called the 
Copenhagen Neck Functional Disability Scale. 

Like other OATS, I would recommend having patients complete the 
form during initial exam, 2-weeks into treatment and then at 
monthly intervals until discharge. I would also recommend having 
the patient complete the form during the course of treatment after 
experiencing flares and when following discharge, the patient 
returns reporting a flare of symptoms. 

The form consists of 15 questions and takes less than five minutes 
for the patient to complete. I would recommend your assistant 
administer the test just prior to treatment that day. 

In response to each question, the patient can answer „yes, no, or 
occasionally¾. For example one question reads „Can you sleep at 
night without neck pain interfering? Another reads „Are you 
prevented form participating in your usual leisure time activities 
due to neck pain?¾

Here is the trick so be careful. When scoring questions 1-5, the 
answer „no¾ counts for 2 points, occasionally for 1 point and „yes¾ 
for 0 points. For questions 6-15, the answer „yes¾ counts for 2 
points, occasionally for 1 point, and „no¾ for 0 points. Reversed 
values were put in place in order to avoid repetitive answering.

Like with other OATS, the higher the score the more disabled. The 
maximum score is 30 but be careful since I am concerned about the 
patient¼s overall credibility as they get closer to a perfect score! As 
a general rule, when repeating this OAT, I look for a score change to 
be at least 4 or more points to be statistically significant.

I¼ve posted the Copenhagen OAT form with the many others at the 
ChiroView Presents site. Just go to 
http://;www.ChiroViewPresents.com, enter the „Members Page¾, and 
click the „Talkin¼ Back¾ section. Then click the „clinical forms¾ 
hyperlink and you¼re there. 

As a "Father's Day Gift", if you don't want to go to the site to review 
all the other forms and would just like a copy of the Copenhagen, let 
me know and I will send it as an attachment.

If you want to read more about the Copenhagen, then go to the article 
authored by Alan Jordan, DC, PhD, Claus Mannishe, MD, PhD, Claus 
Mosdal, MD, and Charlone Hindsberger, MSc calle „The Copenhagen 
Neck Functional Disability  Scale:  A study of reliability and 
validity¾. It can be found in JMPT 1998; Vol 21, #8:520-27.