Reliability and validity of remote Life Space Assessment: LSA in persons with chronic stroke

StepWatch Activity Monitor (SAM) is used to measure the mobility of chronic hemiparetic patients and the Life Space Assessment (LSA) scale was developed to assess the displacement of hemiparetic patients in different contexts through self-reporting. Studies that apply the LSA remotely and correlate it with the number of steps measured by the SAM were not found.

To evaluate the measurement properties of the LSA applied remotely and to evaluate the correlation between the LSA scale score and the number of steps measured by the SAM in post-stroke chronic hemiparetic patients.

Nineteen patients participated in the study. The LSA scale was applied remotely and later, face to face. The SAM measured the steps taken by the participants over a period of three consecutive days. The correlation between the LSA and the SAM was performed using Pearson's correlation. The measurement properties calculated of remote LSA were the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), Cronbrach's alpha, standard error of measurement (SEM), and smallest real difference (SRD).

The reproducibility of the LSA scale between remote and face-to-face applications was considered excellent with ICC = 0.85 (IC 95% 0.62-0.94); SEM = 8.4; SRD = 23.2, and Cronbach's alpha = 0.85. The correlation between SAM and LSA was positive, considered moderate (r = 0.51) and significant (p = 0.025).

The LSA is a reproducible measure for post-stroke chronic hemiparetic patients even if applied remotely and can be used as a remote measurement for mobility in a real-world environment for people with chronic hemiparesis after stroke.