Abstract
A multi-institutional cooperative study had been planned in order to standardize the conventional test for motor recovery in hemiplegia. Furthermore, the study group intended to establish a sensitive test which is essential in evaluating a given therapy in hemiplegia. For promoting the study as sure as possible, a fundamental plan was first prepared in which the whole study was divided into sequential Steps. The study started in 1971 and finished in 1975, and included 10 hospitals.
In this report are described the preparatory and methodological considerations (Step 1, 2). After Brunnstrom's Test which takes account of the regularity in recovery process, an initial tentative test was set up that gives 11 grades instead of the original 6 stages. The test is referred to as the 10-Grade-Test in this series of reports since it makes 10 intervals of recovery for both the upper and lower limbs.The test is constructed by a battery of subtests (test items); 20 for the upper and 23 for the lower extremity. The procedure and the categorical judgement for each subtest were defined, and the criteria for each Grade as well as for each Stage corresponding to that of Brunnstrom's were described. Some definitions are to be altered along with the progress of study.
The methodological considerations cover the principles in design, analysis and assessment for the reliability and for the validity of the test and subtests, and the procedure of quantification of the scale of recovery process.
