Abstract
Background: Robotic and non-robotic training devices are increasingly being used in the rehabilitation of upper
limb function in subjects with neurological disorders. As well as being used for training such devices can also
provide ongoing assessments during the training sessions. Therefore, it is mandatory to understand the reliability
and validity of such measurements when used in a clinical setting. The aim of this study was to evaluate the
reliability of movement measures as assessed in the Armeo Spring system for the eventual application to the
rehabilitation of patients suffering from cervical spinal cord injury (SCI).
Methods: Reliability (intra- and inter-rater reliability) of the movement workspace (representing multiple ranges of
movement) and the influence of varying seating conditions (5 different chair conditions) was assessed in twenty
control subjects. In eight patients with cervical SCI the test-retest reliability (tested twice on the same day by the
same rater) was assessed as well as a correlation of the movement workspace to retrieve self-care items as scored
by the spinal cord independence measure (SCIM 3).
Results: Analysis of workspace measures in control subjects revealed intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC)
ranging from 0.747 to 0.837 for the intra-rater reliability and from 0.661 to 0.855 for the inter-rater reliability. Testretest analysis in SCI patients showed a similar high reliability with ICC = 0.858. Also the reliability of the movement
workspace between different seating conditions was good with ICCs ranging from 0.844 to 0.915. The movement
workspace correlated significantly with the SCIM3 self-care items (p