Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To develop and test a computer program to assist researchers in assigning scores in the application of the Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB) scale and to compare these scores when doing so in free, targeted and automated computer-assisted modes. METHOD: To test the program, the participants used the Impactor methodology recommended by the New York University (USA), in which 12 Wistar rats submitted to spinal cord injury were filmed on the 28th day after the injury. Eight researchers from the Laboratory of Medical Investigation, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, SP, Brazil took part in the study. The two heads of the laboratory, with 15 years of experience in the application of the scale, were considered the gold standard. RESULTS: The results of the scale application were not significantly different in relation to the gold standard, considering the mean of the evaluators in each method: free, targeted and automated form (with the help of the computer). CONCLUSIONS: The application of the BBB scale in the automated mode, using the computer program, did not present any difference in relation to the gold standard for all the evaluators. Level of Evidence II, Diagnostic Studies.
Highlights
Spinal cord injury is a serious public health issue and one of the most devastating and incapacitating neurological syndromes that affect human beings
One of the difficulties referred to in experimental studies and in the use of the BBB scale is the lack of establishment of a standardized evaluation system to assess the degree of spinal cord injury, the determination of the most appropriate animal species,[13] and the comparison of inter-evaluator results that present discrepancies.[1,14]
To test a computer program especially developed for this survey as an auxiliary tool in the issuance of scores from the BBB scale, 12 Wistar rats were submitted to a previous spinal cord injury, using Impactor methodology of the New York University Impactor as standard in the production of spinal cord injuries.[13]
Summary
Spinal cord injury is a serious public health issue and one of the most devastating and incapacitating neurological syndromes that affect human beings. Some tests that evaluate functional recovery are easy to use, they present limited sensitivity to subjective observations.[2,3] Most spinal cord injury studies evaluate functional recovery through the analysis of sensory and locomotor reflexes, and use Wistar rats due to their practicability, cost and availability These tests are performed in other animals.[4,5,6] One of the difficulties referred to in the studies is the establishment of a standardized evaluation system to assess motor function in spinal cord-injured animals.[7,8,9] The functional recovery evaluation scale of Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB)[10,11] is the main scale used to quantify motor recovery in spinal cord-injured rats, which follows studies carried out by MASCIS (Multicenter Animal Spinal Cord Injury Study). The objective was to develop a computerized interpretative system that allows the BBB scale to be applied to
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