Motor dysfunction, particularly ataxia, is one of the predominant clinical manifestations in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Assessment of motor dysfunction suffers from a high variability. We investigated whether the clinical rating of ataxia can be improved through the use of reference videos, covering the spectrum of severity degrees as defined in the Neurostatus-Expanded Disability Status Scale. Twenty-five neurologists participated. The variability of their assessments was significantly lower when reference videos were used (SD = 0.12; range = 0.40 vs SD = 0.26; range = 0.88 without reference videos; p = 0.013). Reference videos reduced the variability of clinical assessments and may be useful tools to improve the precision and consistency in the clinical assessment of motor functions in MS.
Keywords: Disability; EDSS; ataxia; finger-to-nose test; video rating.