title: Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Scale for Assessment and Rating of Ataxia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA) was shown to be a reliable and valid measurement for patients with spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA). The Brazilian version and the Japanese version of SARA were favorable for good reliability and validity. This study aimed to translate SARA into Chinese and test its reliability and validity in measurement of cerebellar ataxia.
  
  
  METHODS
  SARA was translated into Chinese. A total 39 patients with degeneration cerebellar ataxia were evaluated independently by two neurologists with the Chinese version of SARA. Then the patients were evaluated by one of above neurologists with International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale (ICARS). The statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 17.0 for Windows.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the Chinese version of SARA was 0.78, which represents a good internal consistence. The correlation coefficient of the Chinese version of SARA scores between the two evaluators was 0.86, illustrating that the inter-rater reliability of Chinese version of SARA was good. The correlation coefficient between the Chinese version of SARA and ICARS was 0.91, illustrating that the criterion validity of Chinese version of SARA was not bad.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Chinese version of SARA is reliable and effective for the assessment of degeneration cerebellar ataxia. Compared with ICARS, the evaluation of Chinese version of SARA is more objective, the assessment time is shortened, and the maneuverability is better.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Hui-xia
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Jia-meng
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Chang-he
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Chandra
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Avinash
authors.forename: Rui-hao
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yu-ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001259:Ataxia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index