A Reaching Performance Scale for 2 Wolf Motor Function Test Items.
Clarisa Martinez, Helen Bacon, Veronica Rowe and 5 others
PMID 32433993WHAT IT FOUND
The modified scale shows only weak-to-moderate agreement between raters, so it is not yet reliable for clinical use.
It did correlate with other stroke measures, suggesting it may help distinguish movement quality in the future.
Key findings
01Inter-rater agreement for the total score was weak-to-moderate (0.56-0.61), meaning different therapists often score the same video differently.
02Scores on the new scale correlated significantly with established measures of arm function and movement time.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study only included 29 participants, which is a very small sample for testing a new measurement tool. The agreement between different raters was weak-to-moderate, meaning the tool is not currently reliable enough for clinical decision-making. The participants were selected from a larger trial specifically because they had incomplete follow-up data, which may not represent a typical clinic population. The study did not test if the scale can detect changes in movement over time, only how well it agreed with other measures at a single point.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this scale is ready for clinical use because it correlates with other tests. The correlation shows it measures something related to arm function, but the low agreement between raters means two therapists watching the same video could get significantly different scores.