The reliability of three active motor tests used in painful shoulder disorders. Presentation of a method of general applicability for the analysis of reliability in the presence of pain.

This article deals with reliability aspects of standardized, active motor tests ("functional tests") when applied to patients with painful shoulder disorders. Motor performance was rated independently by the same two examiners in a standardized way in three different manoeuvres: the Hand in Neck, Hand in Back, and Pour out of a Pot tests. Pain experienced during these tests was rated by the patients on a verbal scale. A method of general applicability is presented for the analysis of reliability of standardized, active motor tests when applied to painful shoulder joint disorders. The importance of differential motivation is stressed, as is the importance of using reliability measures that are adapted to the specific purpose of a particular clinical investigation.