Abstract
Objective
To determine the test-retest reliability of the Neuromuscular Recovery Scale (NRS),
a measure to classify lower extremity and trunk recovery of individuals with spinal
cord injury (SCI) to typical preinjury performance of functional tasks without use
of external and behavioral compensation.
Design
Multicenter observational study.
Setting
Five outpatient rehabilitation clinics.
Participants
Physical therapists (N=13), trained and competent in conducting NRS, rated outpatients
with SCI (N=69) using the NRS. Testing occurred on 2 days, separated by 24 to 48 hours,
on the same patient by the same therapist.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Spearman rank correlation coefficients to compare NRS results. The NRS scores of motor
performance were based on normal, preinjury function on 11 items: 4 treadmill-based
items (standing and stepping), 7 overground/mat items (sitting, sit-up, reverse sit-up,
trunk extension, sit to stand, standing, walking).
Results
Test-retest reliability was very strong for the NRS items. Ten of the 11 items exhibited
Spearman correlation coefficients ≥.92, and lower bounds of the 95% confidence intervals
(CIs) for these items met or exceeded .83. The exception was stand retraining (ρ=.84;
95% CI, .68–.96). The test-retest reliability of the measurement model-derived summary
score was very strong (ρ=.99; 95% CI, .96–.99).
Conclusions
The NRS had excellent test-retest reliability when conducted by trained therapists
in adults with chronic SCI across all levels of injury severity. All raters had undergone
standardized training in use of the NRS. The minimal requirement of training to achieve
test-retest reliability has not been established.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
AIS (American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale), CI (confidence interval), NRN (NeuroRecovery Network), NRS (Neuromuscular Recovery Scale), SCI (spinal cord injury)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 13, 2015
Footnotes
Supported by the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation (grant no. 164521). The NeuroRecovery Network is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (grant/cooperative agreement no. U10/CCU220379).
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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