Reliability of a functional mobility assessment tool with application to neurologically impaired patients: a preliminary report.
The purpose of this preliminary study was to examine the intratester and intertester reliability of a functional mobility assessment tool (FMAT). Seven licensed physical therapists with varying amounts of clinical experience served as raters. Twelve patients with neurological deficits were subjects for this study. Raters were asked to provide eight possible ratings for each of eight critical mobility functions. Average weighted kappa coefficients ranged from .82 to .97. Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from .73 to .97 for the first assessment and from .52 to .97 for the second (retest) assessment. A high degree of agreement between and within seven raters indicated that this tool may provide an effective assessment of stroke, brain injury, and spinal cord injury. Preliminary findings indicate the functional mobility assessment tool is reliable, thereby increasing the usefulness of this method for clinical assessment. The high resolution of the FMAT makes this tool ideally suited for use in future studies focusing on the prediction of mobility function following neurological insult.
University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Madison 53792.
M B
MB
Badke
R P
RP
Di Fabio
E
E
Leonard
M
M
Margolis
T
T
Franke
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000534:rehabilitation; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009068:Movement; D009460:Neurologic Examination / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000592:standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000534:rehabilitation; D014481:United States