A Preliminary Comparison of the Katrak Hand Movement Scale With the Upper Extremity Fugl Meyer Assessment Shows a Strong Correlation After Stroke.

Objective: To investigate the concurrent validity of the KHMS with the FMA-UE.

Design: The FMA-UE and the KHMS were administered to 50 adults with stroke to evaluate their concurrent validity.

Setting: Three tertiary rehabilitation hospitals.

Participants: Participants were aged ≥18 years, receiving stroke or rehabilitation services from a participating hospital, and had a confirmed diagnosis of stroke (ischemic or hemorrhagic) with upper limb involvement. Fifty patients were recruited to the study (20 women, 30 men, N=50) with a mean age of 71 (SD 13.4, range 35-90) years. Time since stroke varied from 2 days to 187 months, with a median of 0.8 months.

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures: Concurrent validity of the KHMS with the FMA-UE.

Results: A correlation of =0.948 was found between the 2 scales (=.0001). Moderate floor effects were noted in our sample (16%); however, significant ceiling effects were recorded (44%).

Conclusion: The KHMS demonstrated a statistically strong correlation with the FMA-UE and holds promise for use, particularly in the clinical setting, to evaluate upper limb motor impairment after stroke.