Mobility scale for acute stroke patients (MSAS): construct validity and reliability of the Italian scale

Background: The Mobility Scale for Acute Stroke Patients (MSAS) was developed to discriminate between the lower levels of mobility in acute stroke patients in the first two weeks post-onset.

Objective: The present study aims to develop and validate an Italian version of the MSAS.

Methods: The English version of the MSAS was translated into Italian according to international guidelines. We recruited 58 patients admitted to a rehabilitation facility within 14 days of the stroke onset and administered the MSAS to test the internal consistency, concurrent validity, reliability, and responsiveness of the scale.

Results: As for internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha showed values equal to 0.96, and the alpha deleted analysis indicated that all the items have reason to exist. Concurrent validity showed statistically significant data for all sub-scales. The Italian version of the MSAS showed significant and high inter-rater reliabilities (all ICCs ≥ 0.75). The MSAS also showed excellent test-retest reliabilities (all ICCs ≥ 0.90). The reactivity of the scale, evaluated through the Student's t-test for paired samples on a sub-sample of 32 patients, showed statistically significant improvements over time for all items and the total scale.

Conclusions: The results show that the scale is stable and reliable both in the evaluation after 24 h and between different operators. High internal consistency and a strong concurrent validity were found. The scale also proved able to detect the improvement obtained by patients following the rehabilitation treatments.