Usability and inter-rater reliability of the NeuroMotion app : A tool in General Movements Assessments

Background: Early intervention after perinatal brain insults requires early detection of infants with cerebral palsy (CP). General Movements Assessments (GMA) in the fidgety movement period has a high predictive value for CP. Aim: To investigate the NeuroMotionTM apps usability regarding film quality and user experience and to assess the inter-rater reliability of GMA in a neonatal risk group. Methods: GMA, inter-rater reliability and film quality was assessed in a cohort consisting of 37 infants enrolled in a multicentre study of GMA as part of the Swedish neonatal follow-up program for high-risk infants. Some of these infants were filmed twice. For evaluation of user experience 95 parents of 52 infants were addressed with a web-based questionnaire. A GMA expert assessed film quality and performed GMA and three on-site assessors, individually performed GMA. Inter-rater reliability was computed using Krippendorffs alpha (k-alpha). Results: In all, 45 films showed good or excellent quality. The response rate of the questionnaire survey was 40% and revealed predominantly positive perceptions of the NeuroMotionTM app. GMA in 36 infants resulted in substantial agreement (k-alpha = 0.72, 95%CI = 0.3-1.0) between the three on-site assessors consensus and the GMA expert. Inter-rater reliability for GMA between the on-site assessors was moderate (k-alpha = 0.48, 0.18-0.74). Conclusion: The NeuroMotionTM app produces good technical quality films and the app user experience was overall positive. High agreement was observed between the on-site assessors and the GMA expert. The study design is feasible for more extensive GMA studies in cohorts of infants at risk of CP. (c) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of European Paediatric Neurology Society. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Funding Agencies|Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation for research on stroke; Region Ostergotland Research Council; Medical Reaserch Council of Southeast Sweden [FORSS-859871]