Responsiveness and minimal clinically important differences of the Trunk Assessment Scale for Spinal Cord injury (TASS)

Abstract

Objective To confirm the responsiveness and minimal clinically important differences (MCIDs) of the Trunk Assessment Scale for Spinal Cord Injury (TASS). Participants and Methods We evaluated 48 Japanese individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) (age 64.1 ± 10.4 yrs, 28 with tetraplegia) admitted to two institutions at admission, at 1 month of hospitalization, and at discharge with the TASS, the Trunk Control Test in individuals with an SCI (TCT-SCI) motor score, the Functional Independence Measure motor score (mFIM), and the Global Rating of Change Scale (GRCS). We assessed the TASS responsiveness by determining the correlation coefficients for the changes in the TASS’ and other assessments’ scores. We calculated the MCIDs by five anchor-based methods. Results The changes in the TASS and those in the other assessments were weakly correlated at 1 month and moderately correlated at discharge. The TASS MCIDs were observed at 1 month and at discharge. Conclusion Our findings confirmed that the change in TASS scores had weak-to-moderate correlations with the changes in the participants’ upper- and lower-limb function and activities of daily living. Using the MCID for the TASS determined by anchor-based methods may lead to a better interpretation of changes in the trunk function of individuals with SCIs.