Construct validity, intrarater and interrater reliability of the Italian version of the systematic screening of handwriting difficulties (SOS) test in people with Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND

The "Systematic Screening of Handwriting Difficulties in Parkinson's Disease" (SOS) test is the only tool specifically designed to evaluate handwriting in people with Parkinson's Disease (pwPD). It is language specific.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the construct validity, intrarater and interrater reliability of the Italian version of the SOS test.

METHODS

Thirty-five pwPD and 15 healthy controls (HC) completed the Italian version of the SOS test. Participants copied an Italian text for 5 min on blank paper using a pen. Two independent raters evaluated writing speed, letter size, and handwriting quality according to the SOS test criteria. Correlations between the Italian SOS test scores, fine motor skills, and PD characteristics were analysed using Spearman's Rho correlation coefficient (ρ). Group comparisons were adjusted for education level using ANCOVA. Intrarater and interrater reliability were calculated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) or Kendall's Tau (Kτ) coefficient depending on data distribution.

RESULTS

The Italian version of the SOS test showed significant correlations between writing speed and fine motor skills in pwPD (ρ = 0.40; p = 0.016). PwPD showed significantly smaller letter size (η2p = 0.15; p = 0.006), lower writing speed (η2p = 0.18; p = 0.002), and lower writing quality (η2p = 0.12; p = 0.015) compared to HC. Intrarater reliability was excellent (ICCs > 0.990 and Kτ > 0.762 for pwPD; ICCs > 0.923 for HC), as was interrater reliability (ICCs > 0.860 and Kτ = 0.999 for pwPD; ICCs > 0.925 for HC).

CONCLUSION

The Italian version of the SOS test is a valid and reliable tool for clinically assessing handwriting in Italian-speaking pwPD.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ : NCT04876352, prospectively registered on May 6th 2021.