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Author Spotlight: Enhancing Upper Limb Rehabilitation in Stroke Patients Through Advanced Robotic and Neuromodulation Technologies
Published on: October 11, 2024
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Reliability and predictive validity of the bedside upper limb functional evaluation tool (BUFET) among stroke
Shruti Mohapatra1, Abraham M Joshua2, Shreekanth D Karnad1
1Department of Physiotherapy, Kasturba Medical College Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India.
Scientific Reports
|November 23, 2025
Summary
The Bedside Upper Limb Functional Evaluation Tool (BUFET) demonstrates excellent reliability for assessing upper limb function after stroke. This new tool shows high consistency for repeated measures and across different assessors.
Area of Science:
- Rehabilitation Medicine
- Neurology
- Clinical Assessment Tools
Background:
- Stroke frequently impairs upper limb function, necessitating reliable assessment tools.
- Existing tools may not capture the full spectrum of proximal and distal upper extremity movements.
- The Bedside Upper Limb Functional Evaluation Tool (BUFET) was developed to address these limitations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of the BUFET.
- To assess the predictive validity of the BUFET against a gold standard measure.
- To establish BUFET as a dependable clinical assessment for stroke patients.
Main Methods:
- The BUFET was administered to adult patients with a first episode of supratentorial stroke.
- Intra-rater reliability was assessed by one rater scoring videos on two occasions.
- Inter-rater reliability involved multiple raters scoring patient videos independently.
- Predictive validity was examined by comparing BUFET scores with the Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT).
Main Results:
- Excellent intra-rater reliability was observed (ICC=0.992).
- Excellent inter-rater reliability was achieved (ICC=0.985).
- All BUFET components demonstrated reliability exceeding 0.89.
- Moderate predictive validity was indicated by an R² of 0.479 when compared to the WMFT.
Conclusions:
- The BUFET is a highly reliable tool for assessing upper limb function in stroke survivors.
- The tool exhibits excellent consistency for both single-rater and multiple-rater assessments.
- BUFET demonstrates moderate predictive validity, suggesting its utility in clinical practice for tracking functional recovery.
