Abstract
Aims
Children with idiopathic toe walking (ITW) gait are increasingly referred to physical therapists. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of the Clinical Gait Assessment Scale (CGAS), a newly developed observational rating scale.
Methods
Four raters evaluated videos of four children. Foot, arm and head/trunk movement was scored as children walked over four surfaces. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC), model (3,k) were calculated to determine intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of each dependent variable.
Results
The key findings of this study indicate robust intra- and inter-rater reliability, particularly of the foot (Inter-rater reliability, ICC (3,2)=0.9) and head and trunk (Inter-rater reliability, ICC (3,2)=1.0) subsections. Arm movements were more challenging to rate and showed moderate reliability (Inter-rater reliability, ICC (3,2)=0.7). Highest total impairment score; the highest value occurred while walking on the obstacle course (38 ± 29).
Conclusions
Overall, the CGAS showed adequate/acceptable reliability across different surfaces (linoleum, textured surface, narrow base, obstacle), however the obstacle surface was most challenging surface to the rater.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).