Convergent Validity and Responsiveness of the Stroke Upper Limb Capacity Scale

Publication date: Available online 24 August 2018

Source: Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Author(s): Jayme S. Knutson, Amy S. Fried, Kristine M. Hansen, Terri Z. Hisel, Mary Y. Harley

ABSTRACT

Objective

To evaluate the convergent validity and responsiveness of the Stroke Upper Limb Capacity Scale (SULCS) in comparison to the Arm Motor Ability Test (AMAT), the Box and Blocks Test (BBT), and the upper limb Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA). The SULCS is a relatively new measure that was designed to be easier to score and less time consuming than some existing measures.

Design

Prospective repeated-measures design

Setting

Clinical research laboratory of a large public hospital

Participants

Patients (n=61) <2 years post-stroke with moderate to severe upper limb hemiparesis.

Intervention

Participants received 12 weeks of therapy that included neuromuscular electrical stimulation of the paretic finger and thumb extensors. The SULCS, AMAT, BBT, and FMA were administered at weeks 0, 6, 12 (end-of-therapy), 20, 28, and 36 (6 months post-therapy).

Main Outcome Measures

Convergent validity was evaluated with Spearman's correlation coefficients (ρ) between pairs of measures at each time point. Responsiveness from 0 to 12 weeks and 0 to 36 weeks was evaluated with the standardized response mean (SRM).

Results

The SULCS demonstrated strong correlation with the AMAT (ρ=0.81-0.93), BBT (ρ=0.73-0.92), and FMA (ρ=0.78-0.92), at all 6 time points. All four measures had moderate to large SRMs (SULCS, 0.71–0.77; AMAT, 0.83–0.97; BBT, 0.73–0.82; FMA, 0.75–0.76). There was no significant difference in responsiveness among the four measures.

Conclusions

The results support the use of the SULCS to measure upper limb capacity in patients who are less than 2 years post-stroke with moderate to severe hemiplegia.

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