Refinement, reliability, and validity of the segmental assessment of trunk control

Abstract

Purpose: The Segmental Assessment of Trunk Control (SATCo) provides a systematic method of assessing discrete levels of trunk control in children with motor disabilities. This study refined the assessment method and examined reliability and validity of the SATCo.

Methods: After refining guidelines, 102 video recordings of the SATCo were made of 8 infants with typical development followed longitudinally from 3 to 9 months of age and 24 children with neuromotor disability with a mean age of 10 years 4 months. Eight researchers independently scored recordings.

Results: Intraclass correlation coefficient values for interrater reliability were more than 0.84 and 0.98 across all data sets and all aspects of control. Tests of concurrent validity with the Alberta Infant Motor Scales resulted in coefficients ranging from 0.86 to 0.88.

Conclusion: The SATCo is a reliable and valid measure allowing clinicians greater specificity in assessing trunk control.

Figures

Figure 1

Strategies for gaining support from hands and arms included exerting pressure from arms or hands against the evaluator’s hands (a), placing a hand on the bench (b) or on any part of the child’s own body (legs, trunk, head / mouth or other arm) (c and d) which has the effect of cross-bracing the trunk.

Figure 2

Strategies of inclining the trunk forward or backward allow a child to reduce the complexity of active control.

Figure 3

Collapsing the trunk over several specific segments was an active strategy rather than a passive collapse that presented either as a generalised rounding or with angulation. It can feature throughout the trunk as lordosis or kyphosis. This strategy was used more frequently in children with neuromotor disorder and seen briefly in only one infant with TD (c).