Mobility after stroke: reliability of measures of impairment and disability

Int Disabil Stud. 1990 Jan-Mar;12(1):6-9. doi: 10.3109/03790799009166594.

Abstract

This paper investigates the reliability of six measures of impairment and disability related to mobility after stroke: the Rivermead Motor Assessment (RMA, gross function subsection); gait speed (over 5 and 10 m); the motricity index (leg scores only); functional ambulation categories; sitting to standing (by observation); and mobility categories. Twenty-five patients who had suffered a stroke 2-6 years earlier leaving them with mobility disability were seen as part of a home-based physiotherapy trial. Assessments were made by three people on three occasions over 5 weeks. All six measures were reliable in statistical terms. A variation in gait speed of up to 25% and a difference of 3 points in the RMA were the actual limits of reliability.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Activities of Daily Living*
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Cerebrovascular Disorders / complications*
  • Disability Evaluation*
  • Female
  • Gait*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Observer Variation
  • Reproducibility of Results