Reliability of the Functional Reach Test and the influence of anthropometric characteristics on test results in subjects with hemiparesis

摘要

First designed as an alternative method of assessing balance and susceptibility to falls among elderly, the FunctionalnReach Test (FR) has also been used among patients with hemiparesis. Then this study aimed to describe the intra- and interraternand the test/re-test reliability of the FR measure in subjects with and without hemiparesis while verifying anthropometricninfluences on themeasurements. The FRwas administered to a sample of subjects with hemiparesis and to a control group thatwasnmatched by gender and age. A two-way analysis of variance was used to verify the intra-rater reliability. It was calculated usingnthe differences between the averages of the measures obtained during single, double or triple trials. The intra-class correlationncoefficient (ICC) was utilized and data plotted using the Bland-Altman method. Associations were analyzed using Pearson’sncorrelation coefficient. In general, the intra-rater analysis did not show significant differences between the measures for thensingle, double or triple trials. Excellent ICC values were observed, and there were no significant associations with anthropometricnparameters for the hemiparesis and control subjects. FR showed good reliability for patients with and without hemiparesis andnthe test measurements were not significantly associated with the anthropometric characteristics of the subjects.