Motor Function Measure: validation of a short form (MFM-20) for young children with neuromuscular diseases

Capucine de Lattre, Christine Payan, Carole Vuillerot, Pascal Rippert, Denis de Castro, Carole Bérard, Isabelle Poirot and the MFM-20 Study Group.
Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2013. 94 : 2218-26.
Validation of MFM version useful in neuromuscular children under 7 years old, the MFM-20. MFM-32 was completed on 194 healthy children aged 2-7 years. Twenty items of the MFM-32 were successfully completed by these children and were used to constitute the MFM-20. 88 children with a neuromuscular disease were rated by the MFM by a trained medical professional. Principal component analysis of the MFM-20 confirmed the 3 functional domains of the MFM (D1, D2 and D3). Inter- and intra-rater reliability of the 3 sub-scores and total score were high (ICC > 0.90) and discriminant validity was good. The MFM-20 can be used as an outcome measure for assessment of motor function in young children with a neuromuscular disease.

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Keywords: Neuromuscular disease, Motor function, Disability evaluation, Rehabilitation, Metrology