Abstract
Objectives
To evaluate construct validity and responsiveness of the Brachial Assessment Tool
(BrAT), a new patient-reported outcome measure for people with traumatic brachial
plexus injury (BPI), and to compare it to the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and
Hand (DASH) and the Upper Extremity Functional Index (UEFI).
Design
Cross-sectional study.
Setting
Outpatient clinics.
Participants
Adults (N=29; age range, 20–69y) with confirmed traumatic BPI.
Interventions
Participants completed the BrAT 3 times over an 18-month period together with 16 DASH
activity items and the UEFI. Evaluations were undertaken of construct validity, known-groups
validity, 1-way repeated analysis of variance, and effect size.
Main Outcome Measures
BrAT, DASH, and UEFI.
Results
The BrAT demonstrated a moderate to low correlation with the DASH activity items (<0.7)
and a large correlation with the UEFI (>0.7). According to known-groups validity,
only the BrAT was able to discriminate between people who stated they could use their
hand versus those who were unable to use their hand to perform activities. All measures
indicated a significant effect for time with the exception of BrAT subscale 1. The
effect size was highest for the BrAT but lower than expected (BrAT, .52–.40; DASH,
.15; UEFI, .36).
Conclusions
These preliminary findings support the BrAT as a valid and responsive patient-reported
outcome measure for adults with traumatic BPI. The BrAT activity items appear to be
more targeted than the DASH or UEFI particularly for people with more severe BPI.
The BrAT also appears to be measuring a different activity construct than the DASH
and the UEFI. Further work is required to confirm these results with larger sample
sizes.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
BPI (brachial plexus injury), BrAT (Brachial Assessment Tool), DASH (Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand), GPUS (Global Perceived Use Scale), ICF (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health), UEFI (Upper Extremity Functional Index)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 13, 2017
Footnotes
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
