Reliability and Validity of the Glittre Activities of Daily Living Test in Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Overview

Patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) have reduced functional capacity due to clinical symptoms of the disease, resulting in decreased participation in daily living activities and reduced quality of life. Evaluation of functional capacity and activities of daily living is very important in order to determine appropriate rehabilitation programs and increase the participation of patients in daily life activities. However, although there are many scales evaluating functional capacity and activities of daily living in people with disabilities, there is no specific assessment scale specific to MS patients. Therefore, this study was planned to investigate whether the Glittre Daily Living Activities (ADL) Test, which was developed to measure functional capacity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is a valid and reliable measurement tool in MS patients. For this purpose, a total of 51 participants (25 MS patients and 26 healthy participants) evaluated with Glittre ADL Test. The relationship between Glittre ADL Test and 6-minute walk test, Notthingham Extended Daily Living Activities Index, Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life Scale, Fatigue Severity Scale, Balance Assessment Systems Test (MiniBEST Test), Extended Disability Status Scale and 5-repetition sit-to-stand test evaluated with Pearson or Spearman correlation coefficient. For the known group validity, the difference between the patient and control groups compared with the test of the difference between the two means. For reliability, test retest performed. Reliability evaluated with the intraclass correlation coefficient. Hypothesis 1: Glittre ADL Test results in MS patients and healthy subjects are different. Hypothesis 2: Glittre ADL Test is reliable in MS patients. Hypothesis 3: Glittre ADL Test is valid for evaluating functional exercise capacity in MS patients.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory disease characterized by demyelination, myelin damage, axonal loss and gliosis in the Central Nervous System (CNS). MS symptoms vary according to the size of the lesion and its location in the CNS. Clinical symptoms are generally: spasticity, fatigue, muscle weakness, tremor, pain, sensory disturbances, bladder bowel problems, cognitive disorders, depression and sleep disorders. With the progression of the disease, the performance in daily living activities gradually decreases, affecting the quality of life negatively. Maintaining aerobic capacity in chronic diseases such as MS is very important for independence in daily living activities. Functional exercise capacity of MS patients decreases with the effect of symptoms and sedentary lifestyle. The decrease in aerobic capacity can manifest itself with a decrease in walking distance or speed, or a limitation in daily living activities. Decline in aerobic capacity is also associated with many factors such as increased risk of cardiovascular disease, decreased cognitive functions and health-related quality of life. Therefore, aerobic capacity measurement is one of the important physiological measurements in terms of evaluating the existing functional status of individuals and preparing rehabilitation programs appropriately for individuals. Cardiopulmonary exercise tests (CPET) are accepted as the gold standard in the evaluation of aerobic capacity. These measurements have some limitations that limit their use, such as the high cost of equipment and the need for a well trained team. Today, submaximal tests, questionnaires or scales are widely used as an alternative to CPET in evaluating functional exercise capacity. Since most daily life activities are at the submaximal level, submaximal tests can better determine the functional levels of individuals in daily living activities. In order to evaluate functional capacity in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), activities similar to daily life activities were selected and the Glittre Daily Living Activities (ADL) Test was developed. It has been shown that the Glittre ADL Test is reliable and valid in evaluating functional exercise capacity in COPD, as well as reflecting the performance in daily living activities for this disease group. The activities in the Glittre ADL Test are those that require the use of both the lower and upper extremities. An important advantage of the test is that the test can reflect functional capacity as well as providing information about performance in daily life activities and that the use of all extremities can be observed during the test. In this study, the reliability and validity of the Glittre ADL Test in MS patients was investigated. For the criterion validity of the Glittre ADL Test, the correlation with the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) was examined. Patient and control groups were compared for known group validity. Test-retest method was used to determine the reliability of Glittre ADL Test. Intra-observer reliability was evaluated by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The relationship between Glittre ADL Test scores and lower extremity muscle strength, limitation of daily living activities, balance, quality of life, fatigue and disease severity was investigated. Correlations between the time to complete the Glittre ADL Test and the 5 Repetition Sit To Stand Test completion time, Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living Scale, Mini Balance Evulation Systems Test, Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life 54 scale, Fatigue Severity Scale and Expanded Disability Status Scale scores were examined.