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Measurement error, minimal detectable change, and responsiveness of the Brazilian-Portuguese Reaching Performance
Aline Cristiane Binda1, Rosimeire Simprini Padula1, Flávia Priscila Paiva Vianna de Andrade2
1Universidade Cidade de São Paulo (UNICID), Master's and Doctoral Program in Physical Therapy, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Objectives:
The Reaching Performance Scale for Stroke (RPSS) is a clinically relevant tool to assess movement quality and compensatory strategies during reach-to-grasp tasks to a Close and Far targets. This study aimed to investigate the measurement error and minimal detectable change (MDC), as well as the responsiveness, of the Brazilian-Portuguese RPSS in persons with stroke under usual physiotherapy care conditions.
Methods:
A prospective cohort of stroke survivors receiving usual physiotherapy care was evaluated at two time points separated by 6 weeks. The standard error of measurement was calculated to estimate the MDC. Responsiveness was examined by testing four a priori hypotheses in accordance with COSMIN recommendations.
Results:
The MDC was 3 points for the Close and Far targets and 4 points for the Total score. The a priori hypotheses for responsiveness were not confirmed.
Conclusions:
The identified MDC provides clinically meaningful thresholds to assist clinicians in interpreting true change and evaluating treatment effects in routine practice. Although responsiveness could not be demonstrated under usual care conditions over six weeks, this finding should be interpreted in light of the limited magnitude of true change in movement quality within this timeframe and clinical context.
