title: Measurement properties of the short version of the Van Lieshout test for arm/hand function of persons with tetraplegia after spinal cord injury.
abstract: METHODS
  Two validation studies.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the measurement properties of the short version of the Van Lieshout test (VLT-SV), a new test for arm/hand function of persons with tetraplegia after spinal cord injury (SCI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Two specialized rehabilitation centres in The Netherlands.
  
  
  METHODS
  Study 1 (N=12)--assessment of inter-rater reliability (intraclass correlations (ICC); weighted kappa; Bland-Altman plots). Study 2 (N=55)--assessment of convergent validity by computing Spearman's correlations with the Grasp-Release test (GRT; criterion standard) and with motor level of injury, ASIA impairment scale, international classification for surgery of the hand, and the self-care and transfer scales of the functional independence measure. All statistics were computed separately for the right- and the left-hand scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Inter-rater reliability was excellent (ICC 0.98 and 0.99). Agreement was independent of the height of the scores and the limits of agreement were +/-0.5 points on a 0-5 scale. Convergent validity was very good with a Spearman correlation of 0.87 and 0.90 between the VLT-SV and the GRT and correlations between 0.35 and 0.85 with the other indicators of arm/hand function.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The VLT-SV seems a reliable and valid test to assess arm/hand function of persons with tetraplegia after SCI.
authors.affiliation: IRv Institute for Rehabilitation Research, Hoensbroek, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M W M
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Post
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Van Lieshout
authors.forename: H A M
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Seelen
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Snoek
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ijzerman
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pons
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D001132:Arm / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric