Normal scores for nine maneuvers of the Childhood Myositis Assessment Scale.

Objective: To document and evaluate the scores that normal, healthy children achieve when performing 9 maneuvers of the Childhood Myositis Assessment Scale (CMAS).

Methods: A total of 303 healthy children, 4-9 years of age, were scored as they performed 9 CMAS maneuvers. The data were then evaluated to determine whether normal scores for some maneuvers are age and sex dependent.

Results: All children were able to achieve maximum possible scores for the supine to prone, supine to sit, floor sit, floor rise, and chair rise maneuvers. All but 2 4-year-olds achieved a maximum possible score for the arm raise/duration maneuver. Performance of the head lift and sit-up maneuvers varied significantly, depending primarily on age. Children in all age groups had less difficulty performing the leg lift than the head lift or sit-up.

Conclusion: The normative data generated by this study are of value for interpreting the serial CMAS scores of children with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies.