Measurement properties of the short version of the Van Lieshout test for arm/hand function of persons with tetraplegia after spinal cord injury

Study design: Two validation studies. Objectives: To assess the measurement properties of the short version of the Van Lieshout test (VLT-SV), a new test for arm/hand function of persons with tetraplegia after spinal cord injury (SCI). Setting: Two specialized rehabilitation centres in The Netherlands. Methods: Study 1 (N = 12) -assessment of inter-rater reliability (intraclass correlations (ICC); weighted kappa; Bland-Altman plots). Study 2 (N = 55) - assessment of convergent validity by computing Spearman's correlations with the Grasp-Release test (GRT; criterion standard) and with motor level of injury, ASIA impairment scale, international classification for surgery of the hand, and the self-care and transfer scales of the functional independence measure. All statistics were computed separately for the right- and the left-hand scores. Results: Inter-rater reliability was excellent (ICC 0.98 and 0.99). Agreement was independent of the height of the scores and the limits of agreement were +/- 0.5 points on a 0-5 scale. Convergent validity was very good with a Spearman correlation of 0.87 and 0.90 between the VLT-SV and the GRT and correlations between 0.35 and 0.85 with the other indicators of arm/hand function. Conclusion: The VLT-SV seems a reliable and valid test to assess arm/hand function of persons with tetraplegia after SCI.