Repeatability and comparison of clinical tests in children with spastic diplegia and with typical development

Abstract

Objective: The aims of this study were to evaluate the reliability of three range of motion tests (Straight LegRaise, Modified Thomas, and Duncan-Ely) using photographic measurements in children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy (SD) and with typical development (TD). Methods: A cross-sectional test-retest design was applied to compare muscle-tendon unit shortening tests between groups. Results: The tests showed reliability that ranged from good to excellent (ICC > 0.8), except for the Thomas Test for the bi-articular hip flexor muscle-tendon unit of the TD group (ICC = 0.7). Differences between groups were found in all tests (p < 0.05), except when the range of motion of the bi-articular hip flexor muscles was assessed using theThomas test (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Children with SD presents a smaller range of motion than the TD group.However, the Thomas Test for the bi-articular hip flexor muscles was unable to determine differences between children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy from that with typical development.