Abstract
Objective
To evaluate reproducibility (reliability and agreement) of the Brachial Assessment
Tool (BrAT), a new patient-reported outcome measure for adults with traumatic brachial
plexus injury (BPI).
Design
Prospective repeated-measure design.
Setting
Outpatient clinics.
Participants
Adults with confirmed traumatic BPI (N=43; age range, 19–82y).
Interventions
People with BPI completed the 31-item 4-response BrAT twice, 2 weeks apart. Results
for the 3 subscales and summed score were compared at time 1 and time 2 to determine
reliability, including systematic differences using paired t tests, test retest using intraclass correlation coefficient model 1,1 (ICC1,1), and internal consistency using Cronbach α. Agreement parameters included standard
error of measurement, minimal detectable change, and limits of agreement.
Main Outcome Measure
BrAT.
Results
Test-retest reliability was excellent (ICC1,1=.90–.97). Internal consistency was high (Cronbach α=.90–.98). Measurement error was
relatively low (standard error of measurement range, 3.1–8.8). A change of >4 for
subscale 1, >6 for subscale 2, >4 for subscale 3, and >10 for the summed score is
indicative of change over and above measurement error. Limits of agreement ranged
from ±4.4 (subscale 3) to 11.61 (summed score).
Conclusions
These findings support the use of the BrAT as a reproducible patient-reported outcome
measure for adults with traumatic BPI with evidence of appropriate reliability and
agreement for both individual and group comparisons. Further psychometric testing
is required to establish the construct validity and responsiveness of the BrAT.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
BPI (brachial plexus injury), BrAT (Brachial Assessment Tool), CI (confidence interval), COSMIN (COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INstruments), DASH (Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand), ICC (intraclass correlation coefficient), LoA (limits of agreement), MDC (minimal detectable change), MDC90 (minimal detectable change based on a 90% confidence interval)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 06, 2017
Footnotes
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
