Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 19, 2026
A Multi-Modal Approach to Assessing Recovery in Youth Athletes Following Concussion
Published on: September 25, 2014
The Pediatric Stroke Recurrence and Recovery Questionnaire: validation in a prospective cohort
Warren D Lo1, Rebecca N Ichord, Michael M Dowling
1Departments of Neurology and Pediatrics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.warren.lo@nationwidechildrens.org
Insights
The Recurrence and Recovery Questionnaire (RRQ) reliably estimates the Pediatric Stroke Outcome Measure (PSOM) in children after stroke. This telephone-based tool is valuable for assessing outcomes in large pediatric stroke cohorts.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric neurology
- Clinical outcomes assessment
- Stroke recovery research
Background:
- The Pediatric Stroke Outcome Measure (PSOM) is a key tool for assessing recovery in children post-stroke.
- A validated telephone-based assessment is needed for large cohort studies and remote follow-up.
- The Recurrence and Recovery Questionnaire (RRQ) was developed to meet this need.
Purpose of the Study:
- To validate the Recurrence and Recovery Questionnaire (RRQ) against the Pediatric Stroke Outcome Measure (PSOM) in a large cohort of pediatric stroke patients.
- To assess the agreement and consistency between the RRQ and PSOM.
- To identify factors influencing discrepancies between the two measures.
Main Methods:
- The study involved 232 children with various types of pediatric stroke.
- Parents' RRQ responses were analyzed alongside same-day PSOM assessments.
- Statistical methods were used to assess agreement, consistency, and predictors of score differences.
Main Results:
- The median scores for both PSOM and RRQ were 1.5, indicating good agreement.
- The RRQ demonstrated reliability as an estimator of PSOM scores at both total and component levels.
- Preexisting conditions, such as chronic illnesses, were found to increase the difference between PSOM and RRQ scores.
Conclusions:
- The RRQ serves as a valid tool for characterizing post-stroke function when in-person examination is not feasible.
- The RRQ and PSOM assess closely related aspects of recovery, making the RRQ a practical alternative for large-scale and long-term pediatric stroke outcome studies.
Objective:
We developed the Recurrence and Recovery Questionnaire (RRQ) by converting the Pediatric Stroke Outcome Measure (PSOM) to a questionnaire for telephone interview and sought to validate the RRQ in a large cohort.
Method:
We analyzed parents' RRQ responses and same-day PSOM assessments for 232 children who had arterial ischemic stroke, cerebral sinovenous thrombosis, or presumed perinatal ischemic stroke. We assessed the agreement and consistency of the PSOM and RRQ, and we identified conditions that contributed to differences between the 2 measures. We tested selected factors as predictors of differences between the total PSOM and total RRQ (tPSOM and tRRQ) scores.
Results:
Median PSOM score was 1.5 and median RRQ score was 1.5. There was good agreement between tPSOM and tRRQ, and RRQ was a reliable estimator of PSOM at the total and component level. Preexisting neurologic deficits or chronic illnesses increased the difference between the tPSOM and tRRQ; the chronic illness effect was confirmed with univariate analysis.
Conclusions:
The RRQ can characterize poststroke function when a child cannot return for examination. While the RRQ is not identical to the PSOM, the 2 measures likely assess closely related aspects of recovery. The RRQ is particularly useful when assessing outcomes of large cohorts, and will be useful in performing long-term follow-up studies of pediatric stroke.
