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The brachial plexus outcome measure: development, internal consistency, and construct validity

Emily S Ho1, Christine G Curtis, Howard M Clarke

  • 1Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Rehabilitation Services, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. emily.ho@sickkids.ca

Journal of Hand Therapy : Official Journal of the American Society of Hand Therapists
|July 24, 2012
PubMed

Insights

The new Brachial Plexus Outcome Measure (BPOM) Activity Scale shows good internal consistency and construct validity. This tool effectively measures functional outcomes in children with obstetrical brachial plexus palsy (OBPP).

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Orthopedics
  • Rehabilitation Medicine
  • Clinical Assessment Tools

Background:

  • Obstetrical brachial plexus palsy (OBPP) is a significant cause of upper extremity dysfunction in children.
  • Accurate and reliable outcome measures are crucial for evaluating treatment efficacy and guiding rehabilitation.
  • Existing assessment tools may not fully capture the functional impact of OBPP.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop and validate the Brachial Plexus Outcome Measure (BPOM) Activity Scale.
  • To evaluate the internal consistency and construct validity of the BPOM Activity Scale.
  • To establish the BPOM Activity Scale as a reliable functional outcome measure for children with OBPP.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective case series of children (aged 4-19 years) diagnosed with OBPP.
  • Calculation of intraclass coefficients to assess internal consistency of BPOM Activity Scale items.
  • Correlation analysis between the BPOM Activity Scale and the Active Movement Scale (AMS) to determine convergent validity.

Main Results:

  • The BPOM Activity Scale demonstrated good internal consistency with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.87 (N=306).
  • A strong positive correlation was found between the BPOM Activity Scale and AMS scores (r=0.71, p=0.001, n=284), indicating good convergent validity.
  • The results support the reliability and validity of the BPOM Activity Scale.

Conclusions:

  • The BPOM Activity Scale is a valid and reliable tool for assessing functional outcomes in children with OBPP.
  • The scale exhibits strong internal consistency and construct validity.
  • The BPOM Activity Scale can be utilized as a discriminative functional outcome measure in pediatric OBPP populations.
Abstract

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