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The Root-Ely Modified Test of Rectus Femoris Spasticity Has Reliability in Individuals with Cerebral Palsy.


ABSTRACT:

Background

Stiff-knee gait is a common gait deviation in individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) due to rectus femoris (RF) muscle spasticity. The Duncan-Ely test is a velocity-dependent measurement of spasticity that is recorded as positive or negative. At our institution, we use a modification of the Duncan-Ely test, a 5-point ordinal rating scale, which delineates where the catch occurs within the rapid arc of knee flexion. It has been named the Root-Ely test.

Questions/purposes

We sought to determine the intra- and inter-rater reliability of the Duncan-Ely and Root-Ely tests in pediatric patients with CP.

Methods

A convenience sample of 20 ambulatory subjects was recruited; mean age was 10.5?±?4.5 years, and the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels were I-III. Five clinicians measured each individual's RF spasticity using the Root-Ely protocol during a single visit. Simple ? statistics with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were utilized for intra-rater reliability and weighted ? statistics with 95% CI for inter-rater reliability.

Results

The Root-Ely scale intra-rater reliability was 0.77 to 0.90 and inter-rater reliability was 0.32 to 0.87. Inter-rater reliability was good to excellent among experienced clinicians and fair to moderate in new clinicians.

Conclusion

The Root-Ely 5-point scale has acceptable intra- and inter-rater reliability in pediatric individuals with CP among experienced clinicians. The Root-Ely test allows experienced clinicians to reliably quantify severity of RF spasticity and may give orthopaedic surgeons a clinical tool to better predict ideal candidates for RF transfers in individuals with CP in order to improve stiff-knee gait.

SUBMITTER: Drefus LC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6031541 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

The Root-Ely Modified Test of Rectus Femoris Spasticity Has Reliability in Individuals with Cerebral Palsy.

Drefus Lisa C LC   Clarke Siobhan S   Resnik Karen K   Koltsov Jayme J   Dodwell Emily R ER   Scher David M DM  

HSS journal : the musculoskeletal journal of Hospital for Special Surgery 20180326 2


<h4>Background</h4>Stiff-knee gait is a common gait deviation in individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) due to rectus femoris (RF) muscle spasticity. The Duncan-Ely test is a velocity-dependent measurement of spasticity that is recorded as positive or negative. At our institution, we use a modification of the Duncan-Ely test, a 5-point ordinal rating scale, which delineates where the catch occurs within the rapid arc of knee flexion. It has been named the Root-Ely test.<h4>Questions/purposes</h4>W  ...[more]

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