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Measuring physical fitness in Persons with Severe/Profound ...

Measuring physical fitness in Persons with Severe/Profound ...

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AbstractCaregivers of persons <strong>with</strong> profound <strong>in</strong>tellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) often describethe quality of the daily movements of these persons <strong>in</strong> terms of flexibility or stiffness. Objectiveoutcome measures for flexibility and stiffness are muscle tone or level of spasticity. Two<strong>in</strong>struments used to grade muscle tone and spasticity are the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) andthe Modified Tardieu Scale (MTS). To date, however, no research has been performed to determ<strong>in</strong>ethe psychometric properties of the MAS and MTS <strong>in</strong> persons <strong>with</strong> PIMD. Therefore, the purposeof this study was to determ<strong>in</strong>e the feasibility, test-retest reliability, and <strong>in</strong>terrater reliability of theMAS and MTS <strong>in</strong> persons <strong>with</strong> PIMD. We assessed 35 participants on the MAS and MTS twice, firstfor the test and second a week later for the retest. Two observers performed the measurements.Feasibility was assessed based on the percentage of successful measurements. Test-retest and<strong>in</strong>terrater reliability were determ<strong>in</strong>ed by us<strong>in</strong>g the Wilcoxon signed rank test, <strong>in</strong>traclass correlationcoefficients (ICC), Spearman’s correlation, and either limits of agreement (LOA) or quadraticallyweighted kappa. The feasibility of the measurements was good, because an acceptable percentageof successful measurements were performed. MAS measurements had substantial to almostperfect quadratically weighted kappa (>0.8) and an acceptable ICC (>0.8) for both test-retest and<strong>in</strong>terrater reliability. However, MTS measurements had <strong>in</strong>sufficient ICCs, Spearman’s correlations,and LOAs for both test-retest and <strong>in</strong>terrater reliability. Our data <strong>in</strong>dicated that the feasibilityof the MAS and MTS for measur<strong>in</strong>g muscle tone <strong>in</strong> persons <strong>with</strong> PIMD was good. The MAS hadsufficient test-retest and <strong>in</strong>terrater reliability; however, the MTS had an <strong>in</strong>sufficient test-retest and<strong>in</strong>terrater reliability <strong>in</strong> persons <strong>with</strong> PIMD. Thus, the MAS may be a good method for evaluat<strong>in</strong>gthe quality of daily movements <strong>in</strong> persons <strong>with</strong> PIMD. Provid<strong>in</strong>g test adm<strong>in</strong>istrators <strong>with</strong> tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gand clear <strong>in</strong>structions will improve test reliability.106 | Chapter 7

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