A motor function measure for neuromuscular diseases. Construction and validation

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Neuromuscul Disord. 2005 Jul;15(7):463-70.

A motor function measure for neuromuscular diseases. Construction and

validation study.

Berard C, Payan C, Hodgkinson I, Fermanian J; The MFM Collaborative

Study Group.

Department of Paediatric Rehabilitation, l'Escale, Centre Hospitalier

Lyon-Sud, France.

A new scale for motor function measurement has been developed for

neuromuscular diseases. The validation study included 303 patients,

aged 6-62 years. Seventy-two patients had Duchenne muscular

dystrophy, 32 Becker muscular dystrophy, 30 limb-girdle muscular

dystrophy, 39 facio-scapulo-humeral dystrophy, 29 myotonic dystrophy,

21 congenital myopathy, 10 congenital muscular dystrophy, 35 spinal

muscular atrophy and 35 hereditary neuropathy.

The scale comprised 32 items, in three dimensions: standing position

and transfers, axial and proximal motor function, distal motor

function. Agreement coefficients for inter-rater reliability were

excellent (kappa=0.81-0.94) for nine items, good (kappa=0.61-0.80)

for 20 items and moderate (kappa=0.51-0.60) for three items. High

correlations were found between the total score and other scores:

Vignos (r=0.91) and (r=0.85) grades, Functional Independence

Measure (r=0.91), the global severity of disability evaluated with

visual analog scales by physicians (r=0.88) and physiotherapists

(r=0.91).

This scale is reliable, does not require any special equipment and is

well-accepted by patients. Its sensitivity to change is being

assessed to permit its use in clinical trials of neuromuscular

diseases.