Measurement properties of the short version of the Van Lieshout test for arm/hand function of persons with tetraplegia after spinal cord injury
Study design:Two validation studies.Objectives:To assess the measurement properties of the short version of the Van Lieshout test (VLT-SV), a new test for arm/hand function of persons with tetraplegia after spinal cord injury (SCI).Setting:Two specialized rehabilitation centres in The Netherlands.Methods:Study 1 (N=12) – assessment of inter-rater reliability (intraclass correlations (ICC); weighted kappa; Bland–Altman plots). Study 2 (N=55) – assessment of convergent validity by computing Spearman's correlations with the Grasp-Release test (GRT; criterion standard) and with motor level of injury, ASIA impairment scale, international classification for surgery of the hand, and the self-care and transfer scales of the functional independence measure. All statistics were computed separately for the right- and the left-hand scores.Results:Inter-rater reliability was excellent (ICC 0.98 and 0.99). Agreement was independent of the height of the scores and the limits of agreement were ±0.5 points on a 0–5 scale. Convergent validity was very good with a Spearman correlation of 0.87and 0.90 between the VLT-SV and the GRT and correlations between 0.35 and 0.85 with the other indicators of arm/hand function.Conclusion:The VLT-SV seems a reliable and valid test to assess arm/hand function of persons with tetraplegia after SCI.