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Interobserver reliability of the Australian Spasticity Assessment Scale ( ASAS )
Author(s) -
Love Sarah,
Gibson Noula,
Smith Nadine,
Bear Natasha,
Blair Eve
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
developmental medicine and child neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.658
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1469-8749
pISSN - 0012-1622
DOI - 10.1111/dmcn.13000
Subject(s) - inter rater reliability , spasticity , kappa , medicine , cohen's kappa , physical therapy , physical medicine and rehabilitation , modified ashworth scale , spastic , reliability (semiconductor) , psychology , rating scale , cerebral palsy , statistics , developmental psychology , mathematics , geometry , power (physics) , physics , quantum mechanics
Aim The aim of this paper is to present the Australian Spasticity Assessment Scale ( ASAS ) and to report studies of its interrater reliability. The ASAS identifies the presence of spasticity by confirming a velocity‐dependent increased response to rapid passive movement and quantifies it using an ordinal scale. Method The rationale and procedure for the ASAS is described. Twenty‐two participants with spastic CP (16 males; age range 1y 11mo–15y 3mo) who had not had botulinum neurotoxin‐A within 4 months, or bony or soft tissue surgery within 12 months, were recruited from the spasticity management clinic of a tertiary paediatric teaching hospital. Fourteen muscles in each child were assessed by each of three experienced independent raters. ASAS was recorded for all muscles. Interrater reliability was calculated using the weighted kappa statistic (quadratic weighting; κ qw ) for individual muscles, for upper limbs, for lower limbs, and between raters. Results The weighted kappa ranged between 0.75 and 0.92 for individual muscle groups and was 0.87 between raters. Interpretation The ASAS complies with the definition of spasticity and is clinically feasible in paediatric settings. Our estimates of interrater reliability for the ASAS exceed that of the most commonly used spasticity scoring systems.