Inter- and intrarater clinician agreement on joint motion patterns during gait in children with cerebral palsy

AIM: This study aimed to quantify the inter- and intrarater clinician agreement on joint motion patterns in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP), which were recently specified by a Delphi consensus study. It also examined whether experience with three-dimensional gait analysis (3DGA) is a prerequisite for using the patterns. METHOD: The experimental group consisted of 82 patients with CP (57 males, 25 females; uni-/bilateral CP [n=27/55]; Gross Motor Function Classification System levels I to III; mean age 9y 5mo [range 4y-18y]). Thirty-two clinicians were split into 'experienced' and 'inexperienced' rater groups. Each rater was asked to classify 3DGA reports of 27 or 28 patients twice. Inter- and intrarater agreement on 49 joint motion patterns was estimated using percentage of agreement and kappa statistics. RESULTS: Twenty-eight raters completed both classification rounds. Intrarater agreement was 'substantial' to 'almost perfect' for all joints (0.64<ĸ<0.91). Interrater agreement reached similar results (0.63<ĸ