Affiliations: [a] Faculty of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran | [b] Physical Therapy Department, Angelo State University, San Angelo, TX, USA
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Dr. Noureddin Nakhostin Ansari, Faculty of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Enghelab Ave, Pitch-e-shemiran, Zip: 11498, P.O. Box: 11155-1683, Tehran, Iran. Fax: +98 21 77882009; E-mail: nakhostin@sina.tums.ac.ir
Abstract: The Modified Modified Ashworth Scale (MMAS) is a simple clinical outcome measure to assess muscle spasticity in people with brain injury. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to assess the interrater reliability of the MMAS in the upper limb of adult patients with hemiplegia. Participants were fifteen patients with a mean age of 57.3 ± 14.4 years. They had brain injury on average 33.3 ± 26.2 months earlier. Two common spastic muscle groups (elbow flexor and wrist flexor) on the hemiparetic side of the patients were rated by two physiotherapists according to a standardized protocol. The order of raters' assessment and the sequence of muscle testing was randomized. The weighted Kappa (κw) values were calculated for reliability. The κw was 0.61 for elbow flexor and 0.78 for wrist flexor. Results support the good interrater reliability of the MMAS for persons with upper limb spasticity.
