Original article
Development of a Computerized Adaptive Testing System of the Fugl-Meyer Motor Scale in Stroke Patients

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2011.12.005Get rights and content

Abstract

Hou W-H, Shih C-L, Chou Y-T, Sheu C-F, Lin J-H, Wu H-C, Hsueh I-P, Hsieh C-L. Development of a computerized adaptive testing system of the Fugl-Meyer motor scale in stroke patients.

Objective

To develop a computerized adaptive testing system of the Fugl-Meyer motor scale (CAT-FM) to efficiently and reliably assess motor function in patients with stroke.

Design

First, a simulation study was used to develop and examine the psychometric properties of the CAT-FM. Second, a field study was employed to determine the administration efficiency of the CAT-FM.

Setting

One medical center and 1 teaching hospital.

Participants

Patients' responses (n=301) were used for the simulation study; 49 patients participated in the field study.

Interventions

Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures

The 2 CAT-FM item banks (upper extremity and lower extremity) include 37 items from the original Fugl-Meyer scale. The reliability, validity, and responsiveness of the CAT-FM were determined by the simulation study.

Results

Two stopping rules (reliability ≥0.9 or an increase of reliability <.01 after testing an item) were used. The simulation study showed that the CAT-FM had high reliability (≥.93 for upper-extremity and lower-extremity subscales) and concurrent validity (Pearson r≥.91 for the upper-extremity and lower-extremity subscales and motor scale). The responsiveness was moderate (standardized response mean for the upper extremity=.67, lower extremity=.79, and motor=.77) for the 226 patients who completed both assessments at 14 and 90 days after stroke. The field study found that, on average, the time needed to administer the CAT-FM was 242 seconds with 4.7 items.

Conclusions

The CAT-FM is an efficient, reliable, valid, and responsive clinical tool for assessing motor function in patients with stroke.

Section snippets

Methods

The study consisted of 2 phases: (1) a simulation study, developing the CAT-FM and examining the psychometric properties (ie, Rasch reliability, concurrent validity, and responsiveness) of the CAT-FM, and (2) a field study, investigating the administration efficiency (ie, time and number of items needed to administer) and concurrent validity of the CAT-FM. This study protocol was approved by the ethics committee at the participating hospital; all participants gave their informed consent before

Characteristics of the Participants

The characteristics of the 301 patients (177 men and 124 women, with an average age of 62y) in the simulation study recruited at 14 days after stroke are reported in table 1. The scores of the 50-item FM ranged from 2 to 100, showing a wide spectrum of motor function. A total of 75 patients (24.9%) were lost to the follow-up evaluation at 90 days after stroke, but those patients were not significantly different from those who completed both evaluations in terms of age, sex, and motor function.

Discussion

The results showed that the CAT-FM achieved good Rasch reliability (coefficients≥.91), concurrent validity (Pearson correlation coefficients≥.84), responsiveness (SRM≥.67), and efficiency (an average number of 4.7 items and average administration time of 242s) for the motor function assessment in patients with stroke. These findings suggest that the CAT-FM is capable of providing reliable, valid, responsive, and efficient estimates of motor function for patients with stroke.

The CAT-FM appears

Conclusions

The current study showed that the CAT-FM is reliable, valid, responsive, and efficient for assessing motor function in patients with stroke. The CAT-FM is recommended for assessing motor function in patients with stroke in both research and clinical settings.

Supplier

  • a

    The MathWorks, Inc, 3 Apple Hill Dr, Natick, MA 01760.

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    Supported by the National Science Council (grant no. NSC 96-2314-B-037-028), the National Health Research Institutes (grant no. NHRI-EX99-9512PI), and the E-Da Hospital (grant no. EDAHP100002).

    No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.

    In-press corrected proof published online on Mar 22, 2012, at www.archives-pmr.org.

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