title: The Modified Tardieu Scale for the measurement of elbow flexor spasticity in adult patients with hemiplegia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the inter-rater reliability of the Modified Tardieu Scale (MTS) in the measurement of elbow flexor muscle spasticity in patients with adult hemiplegia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study to examine the agreement between two raters on elbow flexor muscle spasticity using Modified Tardieu Scale.
  
  
  METHODS
  Not applicable.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty patients (21 men, nine women) with an age range of 21-79 years (mean = 54.9; SD = 15.7) were tested. Two inexperienced raters assessed the elbow flexor muscle spasticity in the affected side during the same session. The order of assessments by the two raters was randomized. The main outcome measure was dynamic component of spasticity (R2-R1). Reliability was also calculated for MTS scores, angle of muscle reaction (R1), and passive range of motion (R2).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ICC for R2-R1 was 0.72. The ICC for MTS scores, R1 and R2 were 0.74, 0.74 and 0.56, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Modified Tardieu Scale did not provide acceptable high inter-rater reliability in the measurement of muscle spasticity in patients with hemiplegia when used by raters of limited experience.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. nakhostin@sina.tums.ac.ir
authors.forename: Noureddin Nakhostin
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Ansari
authors.forename: Soofia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naghdi
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hasson
authors.forename: Mohammad Hasan
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Azarsa
authors.forename: Somaye
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Azarnia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004551:Elbow Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006429:Hemiplegia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009128:Muscle Spasticity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000503:physiopathology; D015588:Observer Variation; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult