[Development of the Spanish version of the Wisconsin Gait Scale. Reliability and consistency analysis of spatial and temporal parameters with gait assessment in stroke patients].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

We aimed to perform a cross-cultural adaptation of the Wisconsin Gait Scale (WGS) to Spanish and ensure its reliability, validity and sensitivity.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in patients with stroke between September 2017 and March 2019. We developed the Spanish version through the translation-back-translation method, and reached a consensus on the problematic items. The Spanish version of the WGS was applied in 25 post-stroke patients, assessed in the Hospital Movement Analysis Unit. All patients were evaluated by 2 independent evaluators, subsequently performing the instrumented gait analysis using the Elite System (BTS), SMART System. Interobserver confirmation (intraclass correlation coefficient), internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), and validation were verified by checking their relationship with spatial and temporal parameters and sensitivity to change (Pearson's correlation).

RESULTS

After the translation-back-translation, the committee found cultural equivalence in all but 2 items and reached a consensus on the final version. Interobserver reliability had an intraclass coefficient of 0.99 for the total score, and > 0.7 for each item; Cronbach's alpha was > 0.8; the validity between the WGS and the spatial and temporal parameters was significant (p < 0.05). Sensitivity to change was significant on comparison of the results of the scale at baseline and at 1 month (correlation coefficient 0.92).

CONCLUSION

The Spanish version of the WGS is a culturally equivalent instrument to the original version, providing an objective means to document observational analysis of gait in post-stroke patients by rehabilitation teams.