Spasticity

Assessing the Results of Treatment

When developing the treatment plan, it is important to build in regularly scheduled formal assessments of treatment outcome.65 According to Medicare guidelines, whenever the patient is undergoing physical or occupational therapy, the patient must return to the physician for a follow-up visit every 30 days. Because factors such as fatigue, time of day, and environmental conditions may affect the degree of spasticity, it is important to conduct the posttreatment examination in an environment similar to the pretreatment conditions. Replication of the conditions means that the evaluation should occur at the same time of day, with the patient in same position, and using a standard format for assessing the spasticity, whether that is with a standardized protocol such as the Modified Ashworth Scale or polygraphic recording techniques.