The reliability of four motor function tests for assessing upper extremity motor function in stroke patients / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability of the Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA),Wolf's motor function test (WMFT),the box-block test (BBT) and the nine-hole peg test (NHPT) in assessing the upper limb motor function of stroke patients.Methods Eighteen stroke patients participated in the study.Each patient was assessed twice within 2 hours with the U-FMA,WMFT,the BBT and the NHPT.Two raters recorded each session separately.Test-retest reliability was investigated by comparing the assessment results of different sessions; interrater reliability was identified by analyzing the assessment results of different raters.Results The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for the U-FMA were 0.988 on test-retest reliability and 0.959 on inter-rater reliability.The ICC of WMFT by mean and median time were respectively 0.996 and 0.393 on test-retest reliability and both 1.000 on inter-rater reliability.The ICC of WMFT by score mean was O.989 for test-retest reliability and 0.977 for inter-rater reliability.The ICC for test-retest reliability of the BBT using affected hand counts and the difference in counts between the affected and un-affected hand were respectively 0.975 and 0.982.The ICC of the NHPT using affected hand times and the difference between the affected hand and unaffected hand times were respectively 0.937 and 0.936 for test-retest reliability,and both 1.000 for inter-rater reliability.Conclusion The U-FMA,WMFT,the BBT and the NHPT are all measurements with good test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability.They are reliable for assessing the upper extremity motor function of stroke patients.