Timed motor test for wheelchair users: initial development and application in children with spinal cord injury.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to describe the development and preliminary results of reliability testing of the timed motor test (TMT), a performance-based measure of functional status for children with a spinal cord injury (SCI) who use a manual wheelchair. This study will also provide pilot data using the TMT to examine the impact of thoracolumbosacral orthoses (TLSO) on function in children with a SCI.


METHODS
Cross-sectional observational study. METHODS/PARTICIPANTS: This study enrolled 11 subjects with SCI. The TMT consisted of donning a shirt, donning pants, even transfers, uneven transfers, and propelling a wheelchair 80 feet and up a ramp of 45 feet. Nine subjects completed the TMT with and without a TLSO, and 6 subjects (4 of whom also completed the TMT with and without a TLSO) completed the reliability testing.


RESULTS
Except for donning pants, the intertester and intratester reliability of the TMT was fair-to-good with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) of 0.60 or greater. When wearing a TLSO, participants were slower at donning a shirt, donning pants, performing even and uneven transfers, and hallway propulsion (P < 0.05). There was a preference for not wearing a TLSO for dressing and transfer skills.


CONCLUSIONS
In general, the TMT for wheelchair users had fair-to-good intertester and intratester reliability. Based on these pilot data, there was an increase in time to complete several functional tasks because of the use of a TLSO as measured by the TMT in children with a SCI.
Chafetz
Ross
R
Shriners Hospitals for Children, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19140, USA. rchafetz@shrinenet.org
McDonald
Craig
C
Mulcahey
M J
MJ
Betz
Randal
R
Anderson
Caroline
C
Vogel
Lawrence
L
Gaughan
John P
JP
Martin
Susan
S
O'Dell
Mary Ann
MA
Flanagan
Ann
A
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D009989:Orthotic Devices; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013996:Time and Motion Studies; D014910:Wheelchairs