A Preliminary Comparison of the Katrak Hand Movement Scale With the Upper Extremity Fugl Meyer Assessment Shows a Strong Correlation After Stroke

Objective

To investigate the concurrent validity of the KHMS with the FMA-UE.

Design

The FMA-UE and the KHMS were administered to 50 adults with stroke to evaluate their concurrent validity.

Setting

Three tertiary rehabilitation hospitals.

Participants

Participants were aged ≥18 years, receiving stroke or rehabilitation services from a participating hospital, and had a confirmed diagnosis of stroke (ischemic or hemorrhagic) with upper limb involvement. Fifty patients were recruited to the study (20 women, 30 men, N=50) with a mean age of 71 (SD 13.4, range 35-90) years. Time since stroke varied from 2 days to 187 months, with a median of 0.8 months.

Interventions

Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures

Concurrent validity of the KHMS with the FMA-UE.

Results

A correlation of r=0.948 was found between the 2 scales (P=.0001). Moderate floor effects were noted in our sample (16%); however, significant ceiling effects were recorded (44%).

Conclusion

The KHMS demonstrated a statistically strong correlation with the FMA-UE and holds promise for use, particularly in the clinical setting, to evaluate upper limb motor impairment after stroke.