ORIGINAL ARTICLE   Free access

European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine 2019 February;55(1):29-34

DOI: 10.23736/S1973-9087.18.05210-3

Copyright © 2018 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Responsiveness and predictive validity of the Tablet-based Symbol Digit Modalities Test in patients with stroke

Pei-Chi HSIAO ¹, Wan-Hui YU ², Shih-Chieh LEE ³, Mei-Hsiang CHEN ^{4, 5}, Ching-Lin HSIEH ^{2, 3, 6} ✉

¹ Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan; ² Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medical and Health Science, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan; ³ School of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; ⁴ School of Occupational Therapy, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; ⁵ Occupational Therapy Room, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; ⁶ Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

BACKGROUND: The responsiveness and predictive validity of the Tablet-based Symbol Digit Modalities Test (T-SDMT) are unknown, which limits the utility of the T-SDMT in both clinical and research settings.
AIM: The purpose of this study was to examine the responsiveness and predictive validity of the T-SDMT in inpatients with stroke.
DESIGN: A follow-up, repeated-assessments design.
SETTING: One rehabilitation unit at a local medical center.
POPULATION: A total of 50 inpatients receiving rehabilitation completed T-SDMT assessments at admission to and discharge from a rehabilitation ward.
METHODS: The median follow-up period was 14 days. The Barthel index (BI) was assessed at discharge and was used as the criterion of the predictive validity.
RESULTS: The mean changes in the T-SDMT scores between admission and discharge were statistically significant (paired t-test = 3.46, P=0.001). The T-SDMT scores showed a nearly moderate standardized response mean (0.49). A moderate association (Pearson’s r =0.47) was found between the scores of the T-SDMT at admission and those of the BI at discharge, indicating good predictive validity of the T-SDMT.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the responsiveness and predictive validity of the T-SDMT in patients with stroke receiving rehabilitation in hospitals.
CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: This study provides empirical evidence supporting the use of the T-SDMT as an outcome measure for assessing processing speed in inpatients with stroke. The scores of the T-SDMT could be used to predict basic activities of daily living function in inpatients with stroke.

KEY WORDS: Predictive value of tests - Stroke - Rehabilitation