Article

OBJECTIVE: To examine the internal consistency, validity, responsiveness, and
advantages of the Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT) and compare these results to
the Action Research Arm Test (ARAT) in participants with mild to moderate
hemiparesis within the first few months after stroke. DESIGN: Data were collected
as part of the Very Early Constraint-Induced Therapy for Recovery from Stroke
(VECTORS) trial, an acute, single-blind randomized controlled trial of
constraint-induced movement therapy. Subjects were studied at baseline (day 0),
after treatment (day 14), and after 90 days (day 90) poststroke. SETTING:
Inpatient rehabilitation hospital; follow-up 3 months poststroke. PARTICIPANTS:
Hemiparetic subjects (N=51) enrolled in the VECTORS trial. INTERVENTION: None.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: At each time point, subjects were tested on (1) the WMFT
and ARAT, (2) clinical measures of sensorimotor impairments, (3) reach and grasp
movements performed in the kinematics laboratory, and (4) clinical measures of
disability. Blinded raters performed all evaluations. Analyses at each time point
included calculating effect size as indicators of responsiveness, and correlation
analyses to examine relationships between WMFT scores and other measures.
RESULTS: The WMFT is internally consistent, valid, and responsive in the early
stages of stroke recovery. Sensorimotor and kinematic measures of reach and grasp
support the construct validity of the WMFT. CONCLUSIONS: In an acute stroke
population, the WMFT has acceptable reliability, validity, and responsiveness to
change over time. However, when compared with the ARAT, the higher training and
testing burdens may not be offset by the relatively small psychometric
advantages.
CI - Copyright (c) 2012 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS