Binnen het lectoraat Burgerschap en Diversiteit willen we onderzoeken op welke manier en onder welke voorwaarden burgers in deze tijd van globalisering en verstedelijking in staat zijn om actief deel te nemen aan het vreemdelingenverkeer van alledag. We doen dit vanuit een scherp besef dat het lectoraat van start is gegaan in een politiek en maatschappelijk gepolariseerd klimaat. Ik zal daarom in deze rede ook uiteenzetten welke visie op burgerschap en diversiteit ten grondslag ligt aan het onderzoek dat binnen het lectoraat wordt verricht.
OBJECTIVE: Measurement of exercise capacity is essential in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain (CLBP). However, the conventional Astrand bicycle test is not feasible in patients with a very poor aerobic capacity. Therefore the Astrand bicycles test for non-specific CLBP patients based on lean body mass (LBM) was developed as an alternative. The aim of this study was to evaluate reliability and validity of the LBM-based Astrand test.SUBJECTS: Twenty patients with non-specific CLBP and 20 healthy subjects were included for the reliability evaluation, and 19 healthy subjects for the validity evaluation.METHOD: Patients and healthy subjects were assessed twice. Intra class correlation (ICC), repeatability coefficient (RC) and the limits of agreement (LOA) were calculated as a measure of test re-tests reliability. An ICC >or= 0.75 was considered acceptable. Validity was tested by calculating ICC between the LBM-based Astrand test and a maximal bicycle test.RESULTS: The LBM-based Astrand test shows good reliability, reflected by an ICC >or= 0.91 and 95% of the 20 patients could perform the test. However, differences with the estimated true value reflected by the RC and natural variation reflected by the LOA were substantial in patients. Validity was good, reflected by ICC >or= 0.88.CONCLUSION: The present study shows that the LBM-based Astrand test is a reliable, valid, and feasible method for patients with non-specific CLBP. However, a substantial amount of variation should be taken into account in patients when interpreting the test results clinically.
