Ozaki K, Kagaya H, Kondo I, Saitoh E, Imai S, Sonoda S, Itoh N. Reliability and minimal detectable change of Quantified Paralysis Performance Assessment (QPPA) using a three-dimensional motion analysis device. Jpn J Compr Rehabil Sci 2014; 5: 109-116. Purpose: We developed a quantitative evaluation method for motor impairment in hemiplegia using a three-dimensional motion analysis device, the Quantified Paralysis Performance Assessment (QPPA). As a pre-clinical study, we verified the

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... lity and minimal detectable change of the method. Methods: Sixty-six patients who had the first stroke [39 males, 27 females; aged 60 ± 12 years (mean ± standard deviation)] were studied. QPPA measurement was conducted two times to obtain one set of data. The following measurements were performed; upper limb function (arm; QPPA-UE) and lower limb functions (hip joint; QPPA-Hip, knee joint; QPPA-Knee, and ankle joint; QPPA-Ankle). The lifted distance and maximum velocity for each marker were used as the typical values. From the typical values obtained from one set, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and 95% confidence intervals of minimal detectable change (MDC 95 ) were calculated. Results: In the case that two sets of data were obtained from the same acute stage patient at an interval of over two weeks, the two sets were analyzed individually. With a total of 91 sets of measurements, the ICCs of the QPPA indices ranged from 0.956-0.989, and MDC 95 ranged from 4.56-6.79%. Conclusion: The typical values of QPPA showed high reproducibility. In addition, the minimal detectable change was small, suggesting that this method captures clinical changes with higher sensitivity than evaluation methods using ordinal scales.