title: Interobserver agreement in the assessment of muscle strength and functional abilities in Guillain-Barré syndrome.
abstract: In studies of Guillain-Barré syndrome, functional deficit is usually assessed according to a functional scale consisting of several categories. The level of interobserver agreement in this scoring method is not known; furthermore, this method seems to be insensitive when applied to bedridden and artificially ventilated patients. We have developed an additional score (MRC-sumscore), reflecting muscle strength in general. Both scoring methods, tested in Guillain-Barré patients, have an almost perfect interobserver agreement. For the functional score kappa = 0.85, and for the MRC-sumscore r2 = 0.96. The MRC-sumscore is easily assessed and more sensitive than the functional score when patients are bedridden or artificially ventilated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Hospital Rotterdam-Dijkzigt, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Kleyweg
authors.forename: F G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: van der Meché
authors.forename: P I
authors.initials: PI
authors.lastname: Schmitz
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009068:Movement; D009132:Muscles / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015588:Observer Variation; D011129:Polyradiculoneuropathy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016138:Walking