The clinical examination of 157 patients at the University Hospital Bern, Switzerland, compared the validity and reliability of this Clothespin-Algometer to the “gold standard device” for pressure algometry (Somedic® Type II, Somedic Production, Sweden). The measured values show a clinically meaningful correlation with regard to pressure pain detection threshold (PPdt) as well as pressure pain tolerance threshold (PPtt): Spearman correlations coefficients for PPdt were rho = -0.48 (for the middle finger) and rho = -0.53 (for the ear lobe), for PPtt (tested on the middle finger ) rho = -0.49 ; all p-values were below 0.001. Test-retest reliability explored in 45 patients (controlled after 3 weeks) was very  stable and  identically high for both methods.

clinical examination