Purpose
Assesses three types of spastic motor behaviors in SCI patients - clonus, flexor spasms, and extensor spasms.
Acronym
SCATS
Area of Assessment
Spasticity
Assessment Type
Observer
Administration Mode
Paper & Pencil
Cost
Free
- Administered by a trained clinician, the SCATS Clonus scale uses passive dorsiflexion to assess clonus.
- Clonus is rated on a 4-point scale that ranges from:
0 = No reaction
1 = Mild lasting < 3sec
2 = Moderate lasting 3-10 seconds
3 = Severe lasting > 10 seconds
- SCATS flexor spasm is assessed with a pinprick to the medial arch with the knee and hip fully extended.
- Flexor spasms are rated on a 4-point scale that ranges from:
0 = No reaction
1 = mild, less than 10 degrees of excursion in flexion at knee and hip, or extension of the great toe
2 = moderate = 10-30 degrees of flexion at knee and hip
3 = Severe with > 30 degrees of hip and knee flexion
- SCATS extensor spasms are assessed by extending the hip and knee joints from a start position of 90 to 110 degrees of hip and knee flexion.
- Extensor spasms are rated on a 4-point scale that is identical to clonus scale above.
Number of Items
3 sub-scales
Required Training
No Training
Instrument Reviewers
Initially reviewed by the Rehabilitation Measures Team in 2011; Updated by Phyllis Palma, PT, DPT and the SCI EDGE task force of the Neurology Section of the APTA in 9/2012.
Body Part
Lower Extremity
ICF Domain
Body Structure
Body Function
Measurement Domain
Motor
Professional Association Recommendation
Recommendations for use of the instrument from the Neurology Section of the American Physical Therapy Association’s Multiple Sclerosis Taskforce (MSEDGE), Parkinson’s Taskforce (PD EDGE), Spinal Cord Injury Taskforce (SCI EDGE), Stroke Taskforce (StrokEDGE), Traumatic Brain Injury Taskforce (TBI EDGE), and Vestibular Taskforce (VEDGE) are listed below. These recommendations were developed by a panel of research and clinical experts using a modified Delphi process.
For detailed information about how recommendations were made, please visit: http://www.neuropt.org/go/healthcare-professionals/neurology-section-outcome-measures-recommendations
Abbreviations:
|
|
HR
|
Highly Recommend
|
R
|
Recommend
|
LS / UR
|
Reasonable to use, but limited study in target group / Unable to Recommend
|
NR
|
Not Recommended
|
Recommendations for use based on acuity level of the patient:
|
Acute
(CVA < 2 months post)
(SCI < 1 month post)
(Vestibular < 6 weeks post)
|
Subacute
(CVA 2 to 6 months)
(SCI 3 to 6 months)
|
Chronic
(> 6 months)
|
SCI EDGE
|
LS
|
LS
|
LS
|
Recommendations based on SCI AIS Classification:
|
AIS A/B
|
AIS C/D
|
SCI EDGE
|
LS
|
LS
|
Recommendations for entry-level physical therapy education and use in research:
|
Students should learn to administer this tool? (Y/N)
|
Students should be exposed to tool? (Y/N)
|
Appropriate for use in intervention research studies? (Y/N)
|
Is additional research warranted for this tool (Y/N)
|
SCI EDGE
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
Not reported
|
Considerations
- Further testing for reliability and responsiveness of SCATS is required (Hsieh at al, 2008)
- SCATS differs from other measures as it assesses multijoint spasms, versus a single joint.
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