Assessing the reliability of the Modified Modified Ashworth Scale between two physiotherapists in adult patients with hemiplegia.

Noureddin Nakhostin Ansari, Soofia Naghdi, Scott Hasson, Zahra Fakhari, Masoud Mashayekhi, Mona Herasi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Modified Modified Ashworth Scale (MMAS) is a simple clinical outcome measure to assess muscle spasticity in people with brain injury. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to assess the interrater reliability of the MMAS in the upper limb of adult patients with hemiplegia. Participants were fifteen patients with a mean age of 57.3 +/- 14.4 years. They had brain injury on average 33.3 +/- 26.2 months earlier. Two common spastic muscle groups (elbow flexor and wrist flexor) on the hemiparetic side of the patients were rated by two physiotherapists according to a standardized protocol. The order of raters' assessment and the sequence of muscle testing was randomized. The weighted Kappa (kappaw) values were calculated for reliability. The kappaw was 0.61 for elbow flexor and 0.78 for wrist flexor. Results support the good interrater reliability of the MMAS for persons with upper limb spasticity.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)235-240
Number of pages6
JournalNeuroRehabilitation
Volume25
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
  • Rehabilitation
  • Clinical Neurology

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