Abstract
The goal of this study was to test the validity of the Scale for Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA), published in 2006, using patients with autosomal dominant spino-cereberal ataxia (AD SCA) and Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA). The data obtained was compared with that acquired from the International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale (ICARS) and correlated with selected posturographic parameters (PP).
A total of 30 patients - 17 AD SCA and 13 FRDA - were examined. Time-monitored ICARS and SARA scales were employed.
Posturographic examination on a tensometric platform followed, as per standard protocol. The results were statistically processed with tests for non-parametric correlation (Kendall's tau-b).
ICARS and SARA exhibited high correlation in both groups and with AD SCA (p 0.05) patients and the correlation between ICARS and SARA in FRDA patients was lower (tau b = 0.545; p <0.05). The reason for this may lie in the lower number of FRDA patients tested, but SARA may just be less sensitive to the more distinctive symptoms in the dorsal column.