title: Clinical testing of an innovative tool for the assessment of biomechanical strategies: the Timed “Up and Go” Assessment of Biomechanical Strategies (TUG-ABS) for individuals with stroke.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the reliability and construct and criterion- related validities of the Timed “Up and Go” Assessment of Biomechanical Strategies (TUG-ABS), when used with subjects with hemiparesis due to stroke within clinical settings.
  
  
  METHODS
  Construct validity was investigated by the following methods: the known groups, convergence, discriminant analyses, and the opinions of clinical professionals, who used the TUG-ABS with subjects with stroke. The criterion-related validity was investigated by comparing the realtime and video observation scores. Inter-rater reliability was investigated by two independent examiners using both realtime and video observations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The TUG-ABS differentiated people with stroke from healthy controls (p < 0.001), was correlated with the time spent to perform the TUG (rs = –0.85; p < 0.001), and correctly classified 98% of the subjects with stroke (p < 0.001). In addition, all of the clinicians who used the TUG-ABS in their clinical settings, provided positive evaluations. Agreement was also observed between real-time and video observations (0.27 ≤ kappa ≤ 0.85; p < 0.01). Furthermore, the TUG-ABS was reliable for both real-time (0.24 ≤ kappa ≤ 1.00; p < 0.05) and video observations (0.15 ≤ kappa ≤ 0.94; p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The TUG-ABS demonstrated good construct and criterion-related validities, as well as reliability, when applied in subjects with stroke within clinical settings, which supported the theoretical assumptions employed for its development.
authors: Department of Physical Therapy, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. chrismoraisf@yahoo.com
authors: Christina D C M
authors: CD
authors: Faria
authors: Luci F
authors: LF
authors: Teixeira-Salmela
authors: Sylvie
authors: S
authors: Nadeau
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010291:Paresis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D020521:Stroke / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014741:Video Recording; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult