A reliable and valid outcome battery for measuring recovery of lower limb function and balance after burn injury

Abstract

Introduction The measurement of recovery after burns to the lower limbs is hampered by an absence validated injury specific tools. This research aimed to select and validate a battery of outcome measures of recovery after lower limb burn injury (LLBI). Method Reliability study: Reliability of the single leg stance (SLS), the Timed Up and Go (TUG) and the tandem walk (TW) tests were measured using a test–retest trial involving 28 patients with LLBI. Validity study: Clinical data from 172 patients with LLBI were used to compare changes in each LL outcome measure with changes in the Burn Specific Health Scale-Brief (BSHS-B). Results All tests, except the SLS test with eyes closed, demonstrated excellent inter-rater reliability (ICCs = 0.81–0.93). The TUG and the TW-forwards tests were shown to be valid and to provide additional information to the BSHS-B when combined as a battery. The TW-backwards test was redundant while the SLS and ankle DF measures did not correlate highly with the BSHS-B. Conclusion This study shows that the TUG test and the TWF are reliable and valid in the burns population and along with the BSHS-B form a useful test battery for measuring recovery from LLBI.