Psychometric properties of the sensory scale of the Fugl-Meyer Assessment in stroke patients.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the psychometric properties of the sensory scale of the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA-S) in stroke patients with a broad range of neurological and functional impairment at times from 14 to 180 days after stroke.


METHODS
A total of 176 first stroke patients consecutively admitted to a university-based medical centre.


METHODS
This prospective, longitudinal investigation was based on data collected at 14, 30, 90 and 180 days after stroke.


METHODS
Reliability (inter-rater reliability and internal consistency), validity (convergent and predictive validity) and responsiveness of the FMA-S were examined.


RESULTS
The inter-rater agreement of the total score of the FMA-S was excellent, with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.93. The Cronbach's alphas of the FMA-S at four time points after stroke ranged from 0.94 to 0.98, indicating excellent internal consistency. However, the FMA-S showed a significant ceiling effect (more than 44.4% of the subjects achieving the highest score), poor to moderate inter-rater reliability for light touch items (weighted kappa ranging from 0.30 to 0.55), low to moderate validity (Spearman's rho ranging from 0.29 to 0.53), and low to moderate responsiveness (standardized response mean ranging from 0.27 to 0.67) at different post-stroke stages of recovery.


CONCLUSIONS
The psychometric properties of the FMA-S in measuring sensory function do not support its clinical use in stroke patients. Further studies on methods to improve the psychometric properties of the FMA-S are needed.
Lin
Jau-Hong
JH
School of Physical Therapy, College of Health Science, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Hsueh
I-Ping
IP
Sheu
Ching-Fan
CF
Hsieh
Ching-Lin
CL
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000592:standards; D020127:Recovery of Function; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020521:Stroke / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*