Rivermead Motor Assesment

The Rivermead Motor Assessment breaks motor recovery after stroke into three separate sections, each ordered from easiest to hardest.

Gross function covers whole-body movement: sitting unsupported, standing, walking, stairs, and running. Leg and trunk covers the component movements underneath — rolling, bridging, isolated knee and ankle movement, sitting and standing balance. Arm covers upper limb control and function, from lying with the arm elevated through pronating and supinating the forearm and bouncing a ball, up to cutting putty and tying a bow. Every item is scored pass or fail, and three attempts are allowed with the best performance recorded.

• Psychometric properties of the Rivermead Motor Assessment: its utility in stroke.
• University of Nottingham Revised Administration Guidelines

Licensing Notes: The scale and revised administration guidelines are posted freely by the University of Nottingham, and the form is reproduced by Shirley Ryan AbilityLab.

Learn More: The stopping rule differs by section, and it is easy to get wrong. Gross function and arm can be stopped after three consecutive failures, on the assumption that harder items will also fail. Leg and trunk must be administered in full, even after three failures.Two further notes. Quality of movement is not scored in the gross function section — the end position must be reached safely, but how the person gets there does not matter unless the item says otherwise.