Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the stroke upper limb capacity scale.

Purpose: To evaluate the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Stroke Upper Limb Capacity Scale (SULCS) compared to the Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT) and the Fugl-Meyer Assessment-Upper Extremity (FMA-UE).

Materials and methods: Patients with hemiplegia after stroke (n = 60). The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to explore the reliability, and Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to analyze validity. Floor and ceiling effects were counted.

Results: The ICCs for inter-rater reliability and intra-rater reliability were ICC = 0.985 (95%CI = 0.966-0.992) and ICC = 0.982 (95%CI = 0.970-0.989), respectively. The SULCS demonstrated a strong correlation with the WMFT (r = 0.922, p < 0.001) and FMA-UE (r = 0.921, p < 0.001) at baseline. The WMFT and FMA at week 3 were as strong as those at baseline (r = 0.946, p < 0.001 and r = 0.952, p < 0.001, respectively). There was a strong longitudinal correlation between the changes in SULCS and WMFT and FMA-UE from baseline to week 3 (r = 0.745, p < 0.001 and r = 0.768, p < 0.001, respectively). No floor and ceiling effects were detected in any assessment.

Conclusions: Our analysis of the psychometric properties supports the use of the Chinese version of the SULCS to measure upper limb capacity in patients with hemiplegia after stroke.