Abstract
Several authors in the field of physical rehabilitation have used the concept of motor recovery to measure the post-cerebrovascular accident motor function of the affected limbs of adult hemiplegic subjects. The LaVigne test is composed of 95 items to assess motor recovery. This test uses the seven motor recovery stages identified by Brunnstrom. The first objective of the present study was to establish inter-rater reliability for the scores of upper extremity, lower extremity and hand motor function using a scoring system devised by LaVigne. The second objective was to explore the construct validity of the LaVigne test. Thirty-six CVA subjects were assessed by two independent physiotherapists. Inter-rater reliability was found to be high for the total scores of upper extremity (R = 0.70–0.92) and hand (R = 0.88–0.96) motor recovery. Inter-rater reliability coefficients were not as high for the total scores of lower extremity motor dysfunction (R = 0.50–0.88). The seven mutually exclusive graded stages described by Brunnstrom were found to be questionable.