Inter-tester reliability and agreement of the Cumulated Ambulation Score in acute stroke: The InTRO-CAS-stroke study.

TITLE

Inter-Tester Reliability and Agreement of the Cumulated Ambulation Score in Stroke patients: The InTRO-CAS-stroke study OBJECTIVE: To examine the inter-tester reliability of the total Cumulated Ambulation Score (CAS) and the three activities of the CAS, and to define limits for the smallest change in basic mobility that indicates a real change in patients with stroke.

METHODS

An intertester reliability study.

SETTING

Participants: 60 participants from a specialized stroke unit with a mean age of 69.10 ± 13.23 years. The CAS describes a patient's independency in three activities - (1) getting in and out of bed, (2) sit to stand from a chair, and (3) walking ability and was assessed by two independent physiotherapists at median day 3 poststroke. Each activity was assessed on a three-point ordinal scale from 0 (not able to) to 2 (independent). The cumulated score for each activity provides a total CAS from 0 to 6, with 6 indicating independent basic mobility. Relative and absolute reliability was evaluated using weighted kappa, the standard error of measurement (SEM) and minimal detectable change (MDC).

RESULTS

The weighted kappa for the total CAS score was 0.816 and ranged from 0.733 to 0.904 for the 3 CAS activities. The SEM and the MDC of the total CAS was 0.37 and 1.03 respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The intertester reliability of the CAS is almost perfect, and a change of 1 CAS point for the total CAS indicates a real change in basic mobility, at group level and for an individual patient with stroke CLINICALTRIALS.

GOV IDENTIFIER

NCT05601089.