Abstract
Study design:
Two validation studies.
Objectives:
To assess the measurement properties of the short version of the Van Lieshout test (VLT-SV), a new test for arm/hand function of persons with tetraplegia after spinal cord injury (SCI).
Setting:
Two specialized rehabilitation centres in The Netherlands.
Methods:
Study 1 (N = 12) - assessment of inter-rater reliability (intraclass correlations (ICC); weighted kappa; Bland-Altman plots). Study 2 (N = 55) - assessment of convergent validity by computing Spearman's correlations with the Grasp-Release test (GRT; criterion standard) and with motor level of injury, ASIA impairment scale, international classification for surgery of the hand, and the self-care and transfer scales of the functional independence measure. All statistics were computed separately for the right- and the left-hand scores.
Results:
Inter-rater reliability was excellent (ICC 0.98 and 0.99). Agreement was independent of the height of the scores and the limits of agreement were ±0.5 points on a 0-5 scale. Convergent validity was very good with a Spearman correlation of 0.87and 0.90 between the VLT-SV and the GRT and correlations between 0.35 and 0.85 with the other indicators of arm/hand function.
Conclusion:
The VLT-SV seems a reliable and valid test to assess arm/hand function of persons with tetraplegia after SCI.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 763-771 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Spinal Cord |
Volume | 44 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2006 |
Externally published | Yes |