Article

This study proposed a child-friendly measurement procedure for the
three-dimensional analysis of upper limb movements, based on a comprehensive
movement protocol. Within and between session reliability was tested in a group
of 10 typically developing children (TDC) (mean age 10.3+/-3.2 years). The
movement protocol was constructed for children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy
(HCP) and contained three reach tasks (forwards, upwards, sideways), three
reach-to-grasp tasks (with objects requiring different hand orientations) and
three gross motor tasks. Upper limb kinematics were calculated following the
ISB-guidelines. Reliability of movement duration/speed and endpoint joint angles
was assessed with the intraclass correlation coefficient; similarity of the
waveforms with the coefficient of multiple correlation; measurement errors were
also calculated. Reliability coefficients were generally high for movement
duration/speed and most kinematic parameters. Endpoint angles for scapular
tilting, shoulder elevation plane and elevation, elbow flexion-extension and
wrist ulnar-radial deviation showed highest reliability. Angular waveforms were
best repeated for scapular medio-lateral rotation and pro-retraction, shoulder
elevation plane and elevation, and elbow flexion-extension. Results also seemed
task-dependent. This study indicated that the proposed procedure could be used
reliably to quantify upper limb movements in TDC. However, to compose proper
age-related standards for the different tasks, larger study samples are needed.
This will also help with a well-founded task-selection depending on the joints of
interest. Finally, further research will need to establish the reliability in
children with HCP.
CI - Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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