title: Quantitative functional measures in MS: what is a reliable change?
abstract: As a first step toward understanding which changes should be considered as meaningful, the authors assessed the reliability of quantitative functional tests on 5 consecutive days in 63 patients with MS, determining the range of measurement variability present when patients are clinically stable. Time to walk 25 feet (T25FW) and the 9-hole peg test (9HPT) varied by <20% of individual mean scores on repeated testing. Therefore, a 20% change on these tests can be considered to be the threshold that reliably indicates a true change in function for an individual.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Rochester Medical Center, NY, USA. Steven_Schwid@urmc.rochester.edu
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Schwid
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: McDermott
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Bever
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Cook
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology