Inter-rater reliability of physiotherapists using the Action Research Arm Test in chronic stroke

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to establish whether physiotherapists’ ratings are consistent, when using the Action Research Arm Test (ARAT) to score a chronic stroke patient. METHODS: This was part of a large project establishing the reliability in chronic stroke. This study used a correlational design comparing the association between physiotherapist scores of the same patient, to establish the ARAT’s inter-rater reliability. The COSMIN checklist was followed to enhance the methodology of the study. RESULTS: Twenty physiotherapists (8 female and 12 male) aged between 25 and 53 years were selected. There were no participant dropouts or withdrawals. The sample size was normally distributed. The physiotherapists appeared representative of the UK physiotherapy population, with the exception of gender. The distribution of scores showed a normal distribution with standard deviation of score of 1.9. The Kendall’s W test showed 0.711 of agreement between the raters. The scores achieved statistical significance showing consistency between physiotherapists’ scores with chronic stroke. Limitations of the study were the use of a small single center convenience sample that may reduce the generalizability of the findings. CONCLUSIONS: The ARAT is consistent when scored by physiotherapists in a chronic stroke population. The inter-rater reliability range was (0.70 to 0.90) which is categorized as good.