| The purpose of the study was to determine the test retest reliability of the International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury (ISCSCI) motor and sensory exam in children and youth with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). Seventy-four subjects provided written informed consent and assent and attempted participation in two repeated trials of the ISCSCI motor and sensory exam. The motor and sensory exams were administered on two separate occasions by the same rater according to the 2002 ISCSCI standards. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were generated for total motor, pin prick and light touch scores for the entire sample and for age groups (0--5, 6--11, 12--15, 16--21 years of age), severity (complete, incomplete) and type (paraplegia, tetraplegia) of SCI. Results showed high reliability for total motor (ICC 1.00, CI 0.99--1.00), total pin prick (ICC 0.99, CI 0.99--1.00) and light touch (ICC 0.99, CI 0.99--1.00) scores for subjects between 4 and 21 years of age with both complete and incomplete paraplegia and tetraplegia. All subgroups with the exception of the 12--15 year age group with incomplete tetraplegia had good reliability with the majority of ICC exceeding recommended values for clinical measures. The exams were too complex for children 3 years of age and younger suggesting that 4 is the lower age limit for the ISCSCI. |
