INTER-RATER RELIABILITY OF THE RÉGIS SCALE™: A CLINICAL DECISION SUPPORT TOOL FOR STANDARDIZING PHYSICAL THERAPY FREQUENCY RECOMMENDATIONS IN HOME-BASED NEUROLOGICAL REHABILITATION

Vollständiger Abstract

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Determining the appropriate frequency of Physical Therapy sessions in home-based neurological rehabilitation remains one of the most subjective decisions in clinical practice. Although several instruments assess functional status and disability, no widely adopted tool has been specifically designed to standardize treatment frequency recommendations. The Régis Scale™ was developed as a Clinical Decision Support Tool (CDST) to support evidence-based and standardized Physical Therapy frequency recommendations. Following previous studies demonstrating its validity and clinical applicability, the present investigation evaluated its inter-rater reliability. Objective: To evaluate the inter-rater reliability of the Régis Scale™ when independently applied by trained Physical Therapists to elderly patients receiving home-based neurological rehabilitation. Methods: A cross-sectional reliability study was conducted involving 49 elderly patients with chronic neurological conditions receiving home-based rehabilitation. Eight licensed Physical Therapists independently evaluated each participant using the Régis Scale™ after standardized training. Inter-rater agreement was assessed using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Results: The mean Régis Scale™ score was 45.36 ± 19.42 points. The instrument demonstrated excellent inter-rater reliability, with an ICC of 0.997 (95% CI: 0.994–0.999). According to internationally accepted interpretation criteria, this level of agreement indicates excellent reproducibility among independent evaluators. Conclusions: The Régis Scale™ demonstrated outstanding inter-rater reliability, supporting its reproducibility as a Clinical Decision Support Tool for standardizing Physical Therapy frequency recommendations in home-based neurological rehabilitation. These findings reinforce previous evidence regarding the instrument’s validity and clinical applicability and represent another important step toward its broader implementation in rehabilitation practice.