OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to produce a Brazilian version of the original Fugl-Meyer Assessment Scale and to verify the intrarater and interrater reliability in chronic post-stroke patients. METHOD: Fifty hemiparetic patients participated in this study. The Fugl-Meyer assessment was applied to them twice (intrarater reliability) by three physiotherapists (interrater reliability), from three rehabilitation centers. RESULTS: The results showed that the whole Fugl-Meyer scale demonstrated high interrater and intrarater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.99 and 0.98, respectively), and high reliability for each subscale (intraclass interrater = 0.99 to 0.94; intraclass intrarater = 0.98 to 0.87). CONCLUSION: It was concluded that the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Fugl-Meyer Assessment Scale did not show any conflicts of interpretation. High intrarater and interrater reliability rates were obtained, thereby allowing this version to be used as instrument for clinical evaluation and research in Brazil.
reliability; Fugl-Meyer assessment scale; stroke
