Article

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate construct validity and responsiveness of the Brachial
Assessment Tool (BrAT), a new patient-reported outcome measure for people with
traumatic brachial plexus injury (BPI), and to compare it to the Disabilities of
the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) and the Upper Extremity Functional Index
(UEFI). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Outpatient clinics. PARTICIPANTS:
Adults (N=29; age range, 20-69y) with confirmed traumatic BPI. INTERVENTIONS:
Participants completed the BrAT 3 times over an 18-month period together with 16
DASH activity items and the UEFI. Evaluations were undertaken of construct
validity, known-groups validity, 1-way repeated analysis of variance, and effect
size. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: BrAT, DASH, and UEFI. RESULTS: The BrAT demonstrated
a moderate to low correlation with the DASH activity items (<0.7) and a large
correlation with the UEFI (>0.7). According to known-groups validity, only the
BrAT was able to discriminate between people who stated they could use their hand
versus those who were unable to use their hand to perform activities. All
measures indicated a significant effect for time with the exception of BrAT
subscale 1. The effect size was highest for the BrAT but lower than expected
(BrAT, .52-.40; DASH, .15; UEFI, .36). CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary findings
support the BrAT as a valid and responsive patient-reported outcome measure for
adults with traumatic BPI. The BrAT activity items appear to be more targeted
than the DASH or UEFI particularly for people with more severe BPI. The BrAT also
appears to be measuring a different activity construct than the DASH and the
UEFI. Further work is required to confirm these results with larger sample sizes.
CI - Copyright (c) 2017 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS