Development and Validation of the Elbow Demand Rating Scale

BACKGROUND Overhead sports place the greatest strain on the elbow of any of the upper extremity joints. Unfortunately, athlete-specific functional outcome tools do not exist for the elbow. HYPOTHESES THE ELBOW DEMAND RATING SCALE (EDS) WILL DEMONSTRATE STRONG RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY PROPERTIES: (1) test-retest reliability with a 2-week EDS administration, (2) internal reliability of the subscales, and (3) construct validity through lower scores for patients with elbow injuries. STUDY DESIGN Prospective case-control study. METHODS Patients with (n = 19) and without elbow injuries (n = 19) completed the EDS during their routine clinical appointment and 2 weeks later. Clinicians completed the functional portion of the EDS. RESULTS The EDS demonstrated strong test-retest reliability and construct validity. Internal reliability was moderate (α = 0.50). Exploratory analyses further supported construct validity using demographic survey questions regarding elbow pain and symptoms. CONCLUSION Overall, the EDS demonstrated moderate to strong psychometric properties in a patient population with elbow injuries, and its use is supported for young athletes. CLINICAL RELEVANCE The EDS provides clinicians working with adolescent and young adult athletes a scale to direct care and determine intervention success or failure.