Reliability of the Italian Version of the Fugl-Meyer Upper Extremity Scale Administered Remotely

Background/Objectives: Despite the increase in home-based rehabilitation, outcome measures for telerehabilitation are still underdeveloped. The Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) is one of the most widely used tools for evaluating post-stroke motor deficits, with the upper extremity component (FMA-UE) recommended for assessing motor deficits of the arm. This study aims to examine the intrarater and interrater reliability of the Italian version of the FMA-UE, administered remotely via video conferencing during a robotic telerehabilitation program. Methods: Twenty stroke patients participated and underwent 20 sessions of remote upper limb rehabilitation with a robotic device. In-person evaluations were conducted before (T0) and after (T1) treatment, with additional remote assessments throughout. The study evaluated both intrarater and interrater reliability using Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC) and Bland–Altman plots, classifying reliability as excellent for scores above 0.90. Results: Bland–Altman analysis showed no systematic variance for both intrarater and interrater reliability of the FMA-UE scale. Excellent reliability was found with intrarater ICC = 0.972 and interrater ICC = 0.981. Sections A and C of the FMA-UE showed excellent intrarater reliability, while sections B and D had satisfactory results. Both intrarater and interrater reliability analysis of the total score of the FMA-UE scale also showed strong agreement with Cohen’s Kappa values above 0.70. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the remote administration of the FMA-UE scale is a reliable tool for assessing upper limb motor function in stroke patients, supporting its use in telerehabilitation settings.