Evaluation of the use of the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA) in healthy volunteers and patients with schizophrenia

Nina Shaafi Kabiri; Sana Syed; Taha Bali; Daniel R Karlin; Brendon Binneman; Ye Tan; Alexii Steinman; Alanna C Cote; Kevin C Thomas

doi:10.1016/j.jns.2018.05.019

Evaluation of the use of the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA) in healthy volunteers and patients with schizophrenia

J Neurol Sci. 2018 Aug 15:391:40-44. doi: 10.1016/j.jns.2018.05.019. Epub 2018 May 24.

Authors

Nina Shaafi Kabiri¹, Sana Syed², Taha Bali³, Daniel R Karlin⁴, Brendon Binneman⁵, Ye Tan⁶, Alexii Steinman⁵, Alanna C Cote¹, Kevin C Thomas⁷

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory for Human Neurobiology, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, 650 Albany Street, Unit X140, Boston, MA 02118, USA.
² Tufts Medical Center, Department of Neurology, USA; Pfizer Inc. Worldwide Research & Development, 610 Main Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
³ Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Neurology, USA; Pfizer Inc. Worldwide Research & Development, 610 Main Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁴ Pfizer Inc. Worldwide Research & Development, 610 Main Street, Cambridge, MA, USA; Tufts University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA, USA.
⁵ Pfizer Inc. Worldwide Research & Development, 610 Main Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁶ Tufts University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA, USA.
⁷ Laboratory for Human Neurobiology, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, 650 Albany Street, Unit X140, Boston, MA 02118, USA. Electronic address: kipthoma@bu.edu.

PMID: 30103968
DOI: 10.1016/j.jns.2018.05.019

Abstract

Objective: The Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA) is a semi-quantitative assessment used to evaluate ataxia. The goal of these studies was to assess and evaluate the utility of this instrument in a Healthy Volunteer (HV) group and subjects with Schizophrenia (SCZ).

Methods: Two studies were completed to collect SARA data, in a HV group and in a stable SCZ group. 177 HVs (18-65 years) and 16 SCZs (18-58 years) provided written consent and were assessed using the SARA. Of 177 HV subjects, 88 had 2 SARA assessments (within 2 days of initial visit) while all 16 SCZ had 3 SARA assessments (within 14 days of initial visit).

Results: For the HV group, the mean score ± Std for the SARA on visit-1 was 0.39 ± 0.72, and 0.34 ± 0.64 for visit-2. The Pearson correlation coefficient between visit-1 and visit-2 was 0.7486 and an ICC of 0.743. For the SCZ group, the mean score for the SARA was 0.63 ± 0.65 on visit-1, 0.84 ± 1.19 on visit-2, and 0.84 ± 0.94 on visit-3. The Pearson correlation coefficient between visit-1 and visit-2 was 0.6545, between visit-1 and visit-3 was 0.6635 and between visit-2 and visit-3 was 0.7613 and an ICC of 0.650. There was no significant difference in baseline SARA scores between the HV and SCZ group p = .063. A statistically significant positive association between age and total SARA scores was observed in HV (r = 0.345) and SCZ (r = 0.676).

Conclusions: A strong association was observed in both the HV and SCZ groups in the reassessment of signs of ataxia using the SARA scale. Both groups demonstrated minimal signs of ataxia, with no statistically significant difference between the two groups in their visit-1 scores.

Keywords: Ataxia; Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia; Schizophrenia.

Publication types

Evaluation Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Ataxia / complications
Ataxia / diagnosis*
Female
Healthy Volunteers
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Reproducibility of Results
Schizophrenia / complications*
Schizophrenia / diagnosis
Severity of Illness Index
Young Adult