Authors:
Love S, Gibson N, Smith N, Bear N, Blair E
Authors notes:
Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology. 2016;58:18-24.
Keywords:
Cerebral palsy, Spasticity, motor dysfunctions, upper motor neuron syndrome
Abstract:
Aim: The aim of this paper is to present the Australian Spasticity Assessment Scale (ASAS) and to report studies of its interrater reliability.
The ASAS identifies the presence of spasticity by confirming a velocity-dependent increased response to rapid passive movement and quantifies it using an ordinal scale.
Method: The rationale and procedure for the ASAS is described.
Twenty-two children with spastic CP who had not had botulinum neurotoxin-A within 4 months, or bony or soft tissue surgery within 12 months, were recruited from the spasticity management clinic of a tertiary paediatric teaching hospital.
Interpretation: The ASAS complies with the definition of spasticity and is clinically feasible in paediatric settings.
Our estimates of interrater reliability for the ASAS exceed that of the most commonly used spasticity scoring systems.
What this paper adds: A new scale that satisfies all criteria for usefulness of a clinical assessment tool for spasticity in children.
The scale has greater interrater reliability than the most frequently used clinical assessment tools for measuring spasticity.