Psychometric properties of trunk impairment scale in children with spastic diplegia

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Neurology
• Rehabilitation Medicine

Background:

• Cerebral palsy (CP) affects motor function, with trunk control being crucial for overall mobility.
• The Trunk Impairment Scale (TIS) is a tool developed to assess trunk impairment in children with various forms of CP.
• Spastic diplegic cerebral palsy is a common subtype requiring specific assessment tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the reliability and validity of the Trunk Impairment Scale (TIS) specifically in children diagnosed with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy.
• To establish the TIS as a dependable measure for trunk function in this pediatric population.

Main Methods:

• A sample of 30 children (15 boys, 15 girls) with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy participated.
• Subjects were assessed using the TIS and the sitting component of the Gross Motor Function Measure-88 (GMFM-88).
• Intra-rater and inter-rater reliability were determined through repeated TIS scoring by two raters on video recordings within 24-48 hours.

Main Results:

• The TIS demonstrated excellent intra-rater reliability (Intra-Class Correlation Coefficient [ICC] = 0.991) and inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.972).
• Concurrent validity was high, showing a strong correlation (r = 0.844, p < 0.001) between TIS scores and the GMFM-88 sitting component.
• Mean TIS score was 15.66 ± 4.20, and mean GMFM-88 sitting score was 52.36 ± 6.26.

Conclusions:

• The Trunk Impairment Scale (TIS) is a highly reliable and valid tool for assessing trunk impairment in children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy.
• The TIS can be confidently used in clinical and research settings for this specific CP subtype.
• Findings support the use of TIS for monitoring treatment efficacy and functional progress in children with spastic diplegic CP.