Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of motor function assessment items of Stroke Impairment Assessment Set (SIAS).
We examined the inter-rater reliability of the SIAS motor assessment items by comparing the independent scoring of 20 stroke patients by 2 physicians. The kappa statistics ranged from 0.83 to 0.95, and Spearman's correlation coefficients ranged from 0.84 to 0.93. Inter-rater reliability of Brunnstrom stage and Motricity Index were comparable to SIAS. These results demonstrated the reliability of SIAS motor assessment tests as a method of evaluating motor function of the hemiplegic limbs.
To study the concurrent validity of the SIAS motor assessment test, we correlated each item with other motor assessment scales; Motricity Index and Brunnstrom stage. Every SIAS motor item was highly correlated with the other two motor assessment scales. Spearman's correlation coefficients ranged from 0.76 to 0.95 (N=65). These results indicated that the validity of the SIAS motor assessment test was satisfactory. Since patients in the same Brunnstrom stage were devided into 3-4 different levels by SIAS, SIAS motor assessment test would be more sensitive than Brunnstrom stage to detect the recovery of motor function. To confirm this, we need further longitudinal study.
