The Mobility Scale for Acute Stroke Patients: intra-rater and inter-rater reliability

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Abstract
Objective: With increasing pressure for accountability in the Australian health service, clinicians require reliable and valid measurement tools for assessing the physical status of stroke patients in the acute setting prior to entering rehabilitation, so that predictions can be made about the potential length of stay in rehabilitation and level of outcome. In response to the lack of suitable measures of physical disability for acute stroke patients, the Mobility Scale for Acute Stroke Patients was developed. The aim of this paper was to investigate the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of the scale. Method: Five tasks, which incorporate functional movements from lying to walking, were assessed using a six-point scale based on the level of assis tance. Stroke patients were filmed while being assessed by an experienced examiner using the Mobility Scale. Twenty-one clinicians viewed 10 video- taped performances of each activity. Results: The intra-rater reliability from the viewing sessions one month apart was excellent for 92% of the judgements (weighted kappa >0.75). The weighted kappa values for inter-rater reliability were all in the excellent agreement range above 0.75. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the Mobility Scale has a high degree of reliability using this testing procedure. The reliability of the Mobility Scale in the clinical setting and its validity in predicting length of stay and outcome are being investigated.