PTOTOtherPhysical & occupational therapy in pediatrics2020

The Seated Postural & Reaching Control Test in Cerebral Palsy: A Validation Study.

Victor Santamaria, Jaya Rachwani, Geoffroy Saussez and 4 others

PMID 31900006

WHAT IT FOUND

Trained raters scored the seated postural and reaching test consistently, and its scores lined up with other cerebral palsy measures.

The 5-second static sitting test detected only 31% of children with static control deficits.

Key findings

01Trained raters scored the SP&R-co with good or excellent reliability across dimensions, and repeated scoring by the same rater was excellent in 87% of dimensions.

02SP&R-co scores lined up with other cerebral palsy measures of gross motor function, hand use, and sitting control.

03Changing the static sitting test from a 5-second hold to a 20-second hold produced a significant difference in the proportion of trunk segments with deficits, and the 5-second test had 31% sensitivity.

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 sample was small and recruited from CP camps, so the results may not apply to all children with cerebral palsy. Nineteen children were studied. Three were excluded from validity analyses, and 16 were used for construct and concurrent validity. Four children had GMFCS I-II although the test is more appropriate for GMFCS III-V, to allow full score range. Item-by-item inter-rater reliability was fair in 38% of items and poor in 3% of items. The study did not test responsiveness to change, and the authors plan to do this in a larger sample. Applicability to children younger than 7 years needs further study.

The easy way to misread this

Do not read these results as proof that using the test improves patient outcomes. The study validated scoring and relationships with other measures, but it did not test whether scores change over time.

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