Assessing the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Trunk Impairment Scale in stroke patients

OBJECTIVE: To determine the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Trunk impairment scale (TIS), used in the evaluation of somatic, motor, and coordination disturbances in stroke patients, and provide a culturally adapted version for use in the Turkish population. METHODS: A total of 80 patients who were either hospitalized at our facility and rehabilitated for stroke or admitted at our outpatient clinics were included in this study. Reliability was evaluated by the internal consistency (Cronbach α) and test reproducibility [intra-class correlation coefficient (ICCC)] methods, and validity was evaluated by the correlation between subgroups and the total scores of the TIS and Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Brunnstrom phases, Barthel index (BI), Rivermead mobility index (RMI), and Short Form-36 (SF-36) scores. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 63.00±12.1 years. Out of a total of 80 subjects, 34 were female and 46 were male. The reliability of the scale was evaluated by the internal consistency, inter- and intra-observer reliability, and test reproducibility. The findings showed that the Turkish form of the scale was reliable at a good level. The test values were as follows; Cronbach α: >0.70, ICCC: 0.969–1, subgroups and total score comparison: 0. The correlation between TIS and BBS was considerably high in the validity analysis (p<0.001). Further, significant associations among the BI, RMI, KF-36, Brunnstrom, and TIS scores were found (p<0.001), which indicate the structural validity of this scale. CONCLUSION: TIS is a scale used in measuring the motor derangement that develops after a stroke. It has sufficient reliability, internal consistency, and validity for use in clinical practice and stroke investigations. Our study has shown that TIS used for the evaluation of body balance is valid and reliable for the Turkish population.