D. How is lower limb lymphoedema evaluated in a reliable way and when do we speak of a change?

Presenter: Nele Devoogdt, PT PhD, An-Kathleen Heroes, PT PhD Candidate.

Speaker 1: Nele Devoogdt: Evaluation of the lymphoedema-specific quality of life of patients with lower limb lymphoedema through the Lymph-ICF-LL questionnaire.
During the session, Nele will discuss that the evaluation of a patient with lymphoedema must be more than only evaluating the limb volume. Lymphoedema-specific quality of life can be easily evaluated through the Lymph-ICF-LL questionnaire. The Lymph-ICF-LL questionnaire is based on the terminology of the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health and provides 5 domain scores. On the level of body function and structure, it provides a physical function and mental function score. On the level of activity and participation, it provides a household & general tasks score, mobility score and social life score. During the presentation, the different clinimetric properties will be discussed.

Speaker 2: An-Kathleen Heroes: Evaluation of lymphoedema characteristics of the lower limb, such as leg and foot volume, local tissue water, extracellular fluid and tissue characteristics.
During the session, An-Kathleen will discuss the clinimetric properties of different tools evaluating leg volume (i.e. circumference measurement device and opto-electronic volumeter), foot volume (i.e. circumference measurement and water displacement method), local tissue water (i.e. pitting and tissue dielectric constant), extracellular fluid (i.e. bio-impedance spectroscopy and analyses) and tissue characteristics (i.e. skinfold thickness, firmness, elasticity). An-Kathleen will not only discuss intrarater, interrater and between-session reliability of the different methods. She will also discuss standard error of measurement (SEM) and minimal clinical important difference (MCID), construct validity and clinical feasibility of the different methods.