Measurement properties of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Lower-Extremity Motor Activity Log for chronic hemiparetic poststroke patients.

Background: Stroke is among the three leading causes of disability around the world, and it results in immediate difficulty in mobility and gait. There is a lack of instruments to evaluate what daily life is like for these individuals using their lower limbs in real-life environments (outside of the clinical environment).

Objective: To perform the translation and cultural adaptation to Brazilian Portuguese of the Lower-Extremity Motor Activity Log (LE-MAL) and test its measurement properties in chronic poststroke individuals.

Methods: The LE-MAL was translated into Brazilian Portuguese and adapted to the Brazilian culture. The comprehension and relevance of the final version were analyzed by a committee of specialists. The reliability, validity, and responsiveness of the LE-MAL/Brazil to detect changes after lower extremity constraint-induced movement therapy (LE-CIMT) and an intensive conventional therapy were tested.

Results: The LE-MAL/Brazil showed excellent inter- and intrarater reliability, with an intraclass correlation coefficient and Cronbach alpha > 0.70, as well as standard error of measurement and smallest detectable change < 10% of the total instrument score when applied by the same evaluators.

Conclusion: The responsiveness of the LE-MAL/Brazil to detect changes showed better results after LE-CIMT than after the intensive conventional therapy, with most of the correlations > 0.50.