Assessment of motor function in people with multiple sclerosis

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Physical Therapy
• Rehabilitation Medicine

Background:

• Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, progressive central nervous system (CNS) disease affecting young adults.
• Accurate assessment of motor and functional deficits is crucial for effective physiotherapy in MS.
• Existing assessment tools may not fully meet the specific needs of MS patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a physiotherapy assessment tool for objective motor function evaluation in individuals with MS.
• To adapt the Motor Club Assessment (MCA) for use in a multiple sclerosis population.
• To establish the reliability and validity of the Amended Motor Club Assessment (AMCA) in MS patients.

Main Methods:

• Modification of the Motor Club Assessment (MCA) for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, creating the Amended MCA (AMCA).
• Testing the AMCA for inter-rater reliability across lower limb, upper limb, and functional activities sections.
• Assessing the internal consistency of the AMCA for relevant sections.

Main Results:

• The AMCA demonstrated good inter-rater reliability for lower limb (kappa=0.80), upper limb (kappa=0.90), and functional activities (kappa=0.92).
• High internal consistency was found for the lower limb (alpha=0.97) and functional activities (alpha=0.92) sections.
• A ceiling effect precluded internal consistency determination for the upper limb section.

Conclusions:

• The Amended Motor Club Assessment (AMCA) is a valid and reliable tool for physiotherapists assessing MS patients.
• The AMCA provides objective evaluation of motor function and functional deficits in individuals with MS.
• The AMCA is suitable for use in clinical settings by experienced neurological physiotherapists.