Application of the Scale for Assessment and Rating of Ataxia in toddlers

In young children with early onset ataxia (EOA), quantitative rating of ataxia by the Scale for Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA) is longitudinally influenced by the physiological age effect on motor coordination. To enable longitudinal quantitative interpretation of ataxia by SARA in children with EOA, the EPNS ataxia working group has previously determined SARA-scores in typically developing children (4–16 years of age). In toddlers, this information is still lacking. We therefore aimed to investigate the feasibility and reliability of SARA-scores in typically developing toddlers. In 57 typically developing toddlers (2–4 years), we aimed to determine the: 1. feasibility of SARA-scores, 2. age-related pre-requisites to obtain SARA-scores in toddlers over all domains, 3. SARA-score reliability, 4. mathematical age connection of SARA-scores in toddlers and older children. In typically developing toddlers, the feasibility of SARA is strongly age-dependent (p