Validity and reliability of sensor system to measure trunk range of motion during Streamlined Wolf Motor Function Test in chronic stroke and aged-matched healthy participants

ABSTRACT

Objective

To investigate the validity and reliability of using the Valedo® system to measure trunk Range of Motion (ROM) during performance of the streamlined Wolf Motor Function Test (SWMFT).

Methods

Twenty chronic strokes and 20 age-matched healthy participants performed SWMFT while wearing Valedo® sensors on their trunks to capture trunk movements. A paired sample T-test was used to examine the validity of the system in distinguishing between the healthy and stroke group, and between the affected and unaffected sides in the stroke group. Interclass correlation coefficients were used to assess the inter-rater and intra-rater reliability (between-days) with 95% CI.

Results

The Valedo® system was able to distinguish between stroke and healthy participants; stroke participants employed greater trunk range of movements than the healthy controls in all tasks (p < .01). Furthermore, the Valedo® system enabled differentiation between affected and unaffected hands of people within the stroke group. The reliability for the stroke group was good to excellent with intrarater reliability (ICC = 0.71–0.92) and interrater reliability (ICC = 0.63–0.95).

Conclusions

The Valedo system demonstrates an acceptable level of validity and reliability for measuring trunk ROM during the Streamlined Wolf Motor Function Test (SWMFT). Future studies with a larger sample size, different levels of upper limb impairment are warranted.

KEYWORDS:

• Objective assessment
• inertial sensor
• trunk impairment
• upper limb impairment
• stroke
• validity
• reliability

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University for their support throughout this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10749357.2022.2127665

Additional information

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Hocoma donated the device and laptop but was not involved in the design, results, or any publications.