Reliability of the Melbourne assessment of unilateral upper limb function

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Occupational Therapy
• Neurological Rehabilitation
• Movement Science

Background:

• Children with neurological impairments, such as cerebral palsy (CP), often exhibit challenges in unilateral upper limb function.
• Accurate and reliable assessment tools are crucial for quantifying movement quality and guiding therapeutic interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the reliability of the Melbourne Assessment of Unilateral Upper Limb Function.
• To determine the test's suitability for measuring the quality of movement in children with neurological impairment, specifically cerebral palsy.

Main Methods:

• Administered the Melbourne Assessment to 20 children (5-16 years) with cerebral palsy.
• Videotaped performances for scoring by 15 occupational therapists.
• Analyzed internal consistency, inter- and intrarater reliability, and test-retest reliability.

Main Results:

• Very high internal consistency of test items (alpha=0.96).
• Moderate to high interrater and intrarater reliability for most items and total scores (ICCs ≥ 0.7, total scores ICCs 0.95-0.98).
• High test-retest reliability for item and total scores (0.79-0.98).

Conclusions:

• The Melbourne Assessment of Unilateral Upper Limb Function is a reliable quantitative tool for assessing upper limb movement quality in children with cerebral palsy.
• The assessment demonstrates strong psychometric properties, supporting its use in clinical and research settings for this population.