Scales to assess gross motor function in stroke patients: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the clinical and psychometric properties of stroke motor assessment scales.

DATA SOURCES: The databases consulted for the literature research were MEDLINE, PEDro, ISI Web of Knowledge, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL). The search was carried out between March 2011 and January 2014.

STUDY SELECTION: Studies that describe and validate a measurement scale designed to assess gross motor function in stroke. The articles were classified according to the levels of evidence and grades of recommendation for diagnosis studies of the Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine.

DATA EXTRACTION: General characteristics of the studies, including number of patients, motor function assessment scales analyzed, and their psychometric properties, were collected.

DATA SYNTHESIS: After the literature search, 19 articles were included in this review; 32 articles were excluded for not meeting the inclusion criteria. Four of the 19 articles studied the Motor Assessment Scale, 5 the Fugl-Meyer Assessment, 3 investigated the Sodring Motor Evaluation for Stroke Patients, 4 the Stroke Rehabilitation Assessment of Movement, 2 were about the Motricity Index, and 2 about the Rivermead Motor Assessment. All of them were classified as level 2b according to the levels of evidence and grades of recommendation.

CONCLUSIONS

All the scales compiled in this review have been shown to be useful both in clinical practice and in terms of research. The most suitable scales to be used in the clinical field would be the short versions of the Fugl-Meyer Assessment and the Stroke Rehabilitation Assessment of Movement. A real consensus about the measurement of gross motor function in patients with stroke is not available in the recent literature.