The Jacket Test for assessing people with chronic stroke

Abstract

Purpose: (1) To examine the intra-rater, inter-rater and test–retest reliability of Jacket Test times with 28 people with chronic stroke. (2) To determine the correlation of Jacket Test time with stroke-specific impairments. (3) To construct the optimal cutoff time for the Jacket Test that best discriminated 28 people with stroke from 30 healthy older adults. Methods: The Jacket Test completion times were measured along with the Fugl–Meyer Upper Extremity Assessment, hand grip strength, 5-times Sit-to-stand test, Berg Balance Scale and timed “up and go” test, and Community Integration Measure using the cross-sectional design. Results: The Jacket Test completion times showed excellent intra-rater, inter-rater and test–retest reliability (Intra-class Correlation Coefficient = 0.781–1.000). The unaffected-side Jacket Test times were significantly correlated with FMA-UE score, affected hand grip strength, Berg Balance Scale score, timed “up and go” test times and Community Integration Measure score. The affected-side Jacket Test times significantly correlated with affected hand grip strength. The cutoff time of 18.33s in affected side and 18.38s for unaffected side (sensitivity 96.7%; specificity 85.7–96.4%) was used to best discriminate the subjects with stroke and healthy older adults. Conclusion: The Jacket Test is a reliable and valid measure tool in clinic to evaluate the upper extremity function in people with chronic stroke. Implication for rehabilitation -The Jacket Test completion times has excellent intra-rater, inter-rater and test–retest reliabilities in patients with chronic stroke. -The Jacket Test completion times significantly correlated with motor functions of the upper limbs. -The Jacket Test completion times of 18.33s in affected side and 18.38s for unaffected side (sensitivity 96.7%; specificity 85.7%-96.4%) was found to be the most representative for discriminating chronic stroke survivors and healthy older adults. -The Jacket Test is a reliable and valid measuring tool to evaluate the upper extremity function of people with chronic stroke.