Article

Purpose. To establish interrater and test-retest reliability of a clinical
assessment of motor and sensory upper limb impairments in children with
hemiplegic cerebral palsy aged 5-15 years. Method.
The assessments included
passive range of motion (PROM), Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), manual muscle
testing (MMT), grip strength, the House thumb and Zancolli classification and
sensory function. Interrater reliability was investigated in 30 children,
test-retest reliability in 23 children. Results. For PROM, interrater reliability
varied from moderate to moderately high (correlation coefficients 0.48-0.73) and
test-retest reliability was very high (>0.81). For the MAS and MMT, total score
and subscores for shoulder, elbow, and wrist showed a moderately high to very
high interrater reliability (0.60-0.91) and coefficients of >0.78 for test-retest
reliability. The reliability for the individual muscles varied from moderate to
high. The Jamar dynamometer was found to be highly reliable. The House thumb
classification showed a substantial reliability and the Zancolli classification
an almost perfect reliability. All sensory modalities had a good agreement.
Conclusions. For all motor and sensory assessments, interrater and test-retest
reliability was moderate to very high. Test-retest reliability was clearly higher
than interrater reliability. To improve interrater reliability, it was
recommended to strictly standardize the test procedure, refine the scoring
criteria and provide intensive rater trainings.

Langue : ANGLAIS