Reliability of a New Clinical Gait Assessment Scale for Children with Idiopathic Toe Walking Gait – A Pilot Study

Abstract

Aims Children with idiopathic toe walking (ITW) gait are increasingly referred to physical therapists. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of the Clinical Gait Assessment Scale (CGAS), a newly developed observational rating scale. Methods Four raters evaluated videos of four children. Foot, arm and head/trunk movement was scored as children walked over four surfaces. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC), model (3,k) were calculated to determine intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of each dependent variable. Results The key findings of this study indicate robust intra- and inter-rater reliability, particularly of the foot (Inter-rater reliability, ICC (3,2)=0.9) and head and trunk (Inter-rater reliability, ICC (3,2)=1.0) subsections. Arm movements were more challenging to rate and showed moderate reliability (Inter-rater reliability, ICC (3,2)=0.7). Highest total impairment score; the highest value occurred while walking on the obstacle course (38 ± 29). Conclusions Overall, the CGAS showed adequate/acceptable reliability across different surfaces (linoleum, textured surface, narrow base, obstacle), however the obstacle surface was most challenging surface to the rater.