Kettle test--a brief measure of cognitive functional performance. Reliability and valdity in stroke rehabilitation.

OBJECTIVES

We examined the reliability and validity of the Kettle Test, a brief performance measure based on a complex everyday task designed to tap into basic and higher level cognitive processes.

METHOD

Participants included 21 people attending stroke rehabilitation and 4 occupational therapists for the reliability analysis, 36 people at discharge from stroke rehabilitation, and 36 age-matched healthy control participants for the validity analyses. Instruments included a battery of conventional cognitive measures and functional outcomes.

RESULTS

Interrater reliability was found to be high. Stroke survivors at discharge from rehabilitation were found to require significantly more assistance on the Kettle Test than control participants (p < .000); their scores on the Kettle Test were significantly and moderately correlated with the conventional cognitive and functional outcome measures.

CONCLUSIONS

The results support the reliability and validity of the Kettle Test as a top-down measure of cognition-in-function in people at discharge from stroke rehabilitation.