Objective: To measure the Tardieu Scale's reliability in children with cerebral palsy (CP) when used by raters with and without experience in using the scale, before and after training.

Design: Single-center, intrarater and interrater reliability study.

Setting: Institutional ambulatory care.

Participants: Referred children with CP in the pretraining phase (n=5), during training (n=3), and in the posttraining phase (n=15).

Interventions: The Tardieu Scale involves performing passive muscle stretch at 2 velocities, slow and fast. The rater derives 2 parameters; the Spasticity Angle X is the difference between the angles of arrest at slow speed and of catch-and-release or clonus at fast speed; the Spasticity Grade Y is an ordinal variable that grades the intensity (gain) of the muscle reaction to fast stretch. In phase 1, experienced raters without formalized training in the scale graded elbow, knee, and ankle plantar flexors bilaterally, without and with a goniometer. In phase 2, after training, the experienced and nonexperienced raters graded the same muscles unilaterally.

Main Outcome Measures: Intrarater and interrater reliability of the Tardieu Scale.

Results: After training, nonexperienced raters had mean +/- SD intrarater and interrater agreement rates across all joints and parameters of 80%+/-14% and 74%+/-16%, respectively. For experienced raters, intrarater and interrater agreement rates before training were 77%+/-13% and 66%+/-15%, respectively, versus 90%+/-8% and 81%+/-13%, respectively, after training (P<.001 for both). Specific angle measurements at the knee were less reliable for the angles of catch measured at fast speed. Across all joints, agreement rates were similar using visual or goniometric measurements.

Conclusions: Both parameters of the Tardieu Scale have excellent intrarater and interrater reliability when assessed at the elbow and ankle joints of children with CP, with no difference noted between visual and goniometric measurements. Angle measurements were less reliable at the knee joints. Training was associated with a highly significant improvement in reliability.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2009.11.017DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

intrarater interrater
16
reliability tardieu
8
tardieu scale
8
children cerebral
8
cerebral palsy
8
interrater reliability
8
experienced raters
8
nonexperienced raters
8
interrater agreement
8
agreement rates
8

Similar Publications

Purpose: No studies have explored the reliability of the Rigo classification system using surface topography (ST), which would allow optimization without radiation exposure. This study aims to measure and compare the intra- and inter-observer reliability (Kappa values) and accuracy of the Rigo system between ST and X-ray for overall types and subtypes.

Methods: X-ray and ST images of 31 adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients were selected.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We present an approach for evaluating abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans that generates reproducible measures relevant to donor site morbidity after abdominally based breast reconstruction. Seventeen preoperative CT metrics were measured in 20 patients with software: interanterior superior iliac spine distance; abdominal wall protrusion; interrectus distance; rectus abdominis width, thickness, and width-to-thickness ratio; abdominal wall thickness; subcutaneous fat volume; visceral fat volume; right/left psoas volumes and densities; and right/left rectus abdominis volumes and densities. Two operators performed measures to determine interrater reliability (n = 10).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To evaluate the intrarater and interrater reliability of the Clinical Frailty Scale-Spain (CFS-España) and FRAIL-España and the internal consistency of the FRAIL-España when implemented in critically ill patients by intensive care nurses and physicians.

Design: Descriptive, observational and metric study.

Setting: intensive care unit (ICU) of Spain.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Unlabelled: This review investigated the psychometric properties of the most commonly used short-, long-, complex- and patient-reported walking outcome measures in multiple sclerosis(MS): the timed-25-foot walk test (T25FW), the six-minute walk test (6MWT), the six-spot step-test (SSST), and the 12-item MS walking scale (MSWS-12), along with reported reference data of these tests.

Methods: Based on PubMed and Embase searches, psychometric as well as descriptive data of T25FW, 6MWT, SSST, and MSWS-12 were extracted from studies evaluating persons with MS (pwMS). Descriptive data was also extracted from healthy controls (HC), if reported.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In health care, work-related musculoskeletal disorders are largely attributed to patient-handling tasks. Reliable assessments of patient mobility are imperative to mitigate the musculoskeletal burden on healthcare providers. This study explores the reliability of MK5 Mobility Classes, a patient mobility classification system.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!