Validation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Van Lieshout test in an Italian population with cervical spinal cord injury: a psychometric study

Study design Psychometric study. Objective To assess the reliability and validity of the Italian-translated and adapted version of the Van Lieshout test (VLT) in a population of people with cervical spinal cord injury (C-SCI). Setting Multicenter study in multiple hospitals in Italy. Methods The original scale was translated from English to Italian according to international guidelines. The internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and responsiveness of the Italian version of the VLT (IT-VLT) were examined. The IT-VLT was administered to 50 individuals with C-SCI, and its construct and convergent validity were evaluated using Pearson correlation coefficients with the Italian version of the Spinal Cord Injury Measure version III (SCIM III). Results All psychometric properties of the IT-VLT showed significant values, including the Cronbach’s α, which was 0.95 (left hand) and 0.94 (right hand). Furthermore, the test–retest reliability showed an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.89, 0.81, and 0.87 for the right hand, left hand, and total value, respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient of the IT-VLT and the Italian version of the SCIM III showed all significant results r = 0.559 (p < 0.01). The IT-VLT score improved significantly during in-patient rehabilitation In fact the mean (95% CI) change between T0 and T1 was − 13.2 ± 28.6 (− 21.38; − 5.10). Conclusions The IT-VLT was a reliable and a valid outcome measure for assessing hand function in the Italian population with C-SCI. The present study lays the grounds to investigate the psychometric properties of the short version of the IT-VLT.