Background: Stroke often leads to upright standing and walking impairments. Clinical assessments do not sufficiently address ecological aspects and the patient's subjective evaluation of function.
Objective: To perform a pilot assessment of the psychometric properties of the Lower Limb-Function Assessment Scale (LL-FAS).
Methods: The LL-FAS includes 30 items assessing the patient's perception (in a questionnaire) and the examiner's perception (in a practical test) of upright standing and walking impairments and their impact on activities of daily living. We analyzed the LL-FAS's reliability, construct validity, internal consistency, predictive validity and feasibility.
Results: Thirty-five stroke patients were included. The scale's mean ± SD completion time was 25 ± 6 min. Intra-observer reliability was good to excellent (intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC >0.82). Interobserver reliability was moderate (0.67 < ICC < 0.9). The questionnaire and test items showed excellent construct validity for neuromotor disabilities (p < 0.05), postural ability (Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke; p < 10-5), severity of gait disorders (Gait Assessment and Intervention Tool; p < 10-3), walking ability (New Functional Ambulation Categories, 10 m walk test, Rivermead Mobility Index; p < 10-3) and functional level (Barthel Index; p < 10-3). Internal consistency (Cronbach-α >0.9) and predictive validity were excellent.
Conclusions: The LL-FAS showed fair psychometric properties in this pilot study and may be of value for evaluating post-stroke lower limb impairment.
Keywords: Stroke; assessment; gait; posture; scale; walking.