Abstract
Hodics TM, Nakatsuka K, Upreti B, Alex A, Smith PS, Pezzullo JC. Wolf Motor Function
Test for characterizing moderate to severe hemiparesis in stroke patients.
Objective
To extend the applicability of the Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT) to describe the
residual functional abilities of moderate to severely affected stroke patients.
Design
Data were collected as part of 2 double-blind, sham-controlled, randomized interventional
studies: the Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) in Chronic Stroke Recovery
and the tDCS Enhanced Stroke Recovery and Cortical Reorganization. Stroke patients
were evaluated with the upper extremity Fugl-Meyer (UFM) and the WMFT in the same
setting before treatment.
Setting
University inpatient rehabilitation and outpatient clinic.
Participants
Stroke patients (N=32) with moderate to severe hemiparesis enrolled in the tDCS in
Chronic Stroke Recovery and the tDCS Enhanced Stroke Recovery and Cortical Reorganization
studies.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
WMFT scores were calculated using (1) median performance times and (2) a new calculation
using the mean rate of performance. We compared the distribution of values from the
2 methods and examined the WMFT-UFM correlation for the traditional and the new calculation.
Results
WMFT rate values were more evenly distributed across their range than median WMFT
time scores. The association between the WMFT rate and UFM was as good as the association
between the median WMFT time scores and UFM (Spearman ρ, .84 vs −.79).
Conclusions
The new WMFT mean rate of performance is valid and a more sensitive measure in describing
the functional activities of the moderate to severely affected upper extremity of
stroke subjects and avoids the pitfalls of the median WMFT time calculations.
Key Words
List of Abbreviations:
UFM (upper extremity Fugl-Meyer), WMFT (Wolf Motor Function Test)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 14, 2012
Footnotes
Supported by the National Institutes of Health NICHD (The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) (grant no. 5K23HD050267) and the Mobility Foundation, Dallas, TX (grant no. 50921).
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.
Clinical Trial Registration Nos: NCT00085657, NCT01014897.
In-press corrected proof published online on Jun 26, 2012, at www.archives-pmr.org.
Reprints are not available from the author.
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
