PROGNOSTIC AND DISCRIMINATIVE VALUE OF THE SHORT PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE BATTERY (SPPB) TEST IN STROKE PATIENTS

Abstract

 Objective: to assess the prognostic and discriminative value of the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB)test and its components in stroke patients undergoing outpatient physical rehabilitation, to identify those who will achieve community ambulation at 3 months and at discharge. Methods: prospective cohort study in which a con-secutive sample of 65 patients with walking ability (67.77 SD: 11.86 years) was evaluated, 33 were classified as home ambulators and 32 as limited community ambulators. SPPB was measured at the baseline of outpatient physical rehabilitation and every month until discharge. Results: the best AUCS (area under the curve)at three months and at discharge were the SPPB (AUC: 0.856 and AUC: 0.819 respectively) and the 5STS (sit to stand 5 times) (AUC=0.909 and AUC= 0.832). At three months the 4MGS (4-meter walk) test was associated with achieving community ambulation (p-value < 0.05) measured in meters per second and score and the 5STS test also showed association measured as score (HR: 0.91, 95 % CI: 0.84-0.99). At discharge, SPPB, 4MGS and 5STS showed association with achieving community ambulation (p-value < 0.05). Conclusions: SPPB is a test with prognostic and discriminative value. The 4MGS and 5STS tests showed the best prognostic values, while the 5STS and SPPB had the highest discriminative value.