United States (US) multi-center study to assess the validity and reliability of the Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM III).
Document Type
Article
Abstract
STUDY DESIGN: Multi-center, prospective, cohort study.
OBJECTIVES: To assess the validity and reliability of the Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM III) in measuring functional ability in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI).
SETTING: Inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in the United States (US).
METHODS: Functional ability was measured with the SCIM III during the first week of admittance into inpatient acute rehabilitation and within one week of discharge from the same rehabilitation program. Motor and sensory neurologic impairment was measured with the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale. The Functional Independence Measure (FIM), the default functional measure currently used in most US hospitals, was used as a comparison standard for the SCIM III. Statistical analyses were used to test the validity and reliability of the SCIM III.
RESULTS: Total agreement between raters was above 70% on most SCIM III tasks and all κ-coefficients were statistically significant (P
CONCLUSION: Overall, the SCIM III is a reliable and valid measure of functional change in SCI. However, improved scoring instructions and a few modifications to the scoring categories may reduce variability between raters and enhance clinical utility.
Medical Subject Headings
Activities of Daily Living; Adolescent; Adult; Disability Evaluation; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Reproducibility of Results; Spinal Cord Injuries; Statistics as Topic; United States; Young Adult
Publication Date
8-1-2011
Publication Title
Spinal cord : the official journal of the International Medical Society of Paraplegia
ISSN
1476-5624
Volume
49
Issue
8
First Page
880
Last Page
885
PubMed ID
21445081
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1038/sc.2011.20
Recommended Citation
Anderson, K D; Acuff, M E; Arp, B G; Backus, D; Chun, S; Fisher, K; Fjerstad, J E; Graves, D E; Greenwald, K; Groah, S L; Harkema, S J; Horton, J A; Huang, M-N; Jennings, M; Kelley, K S; Kessler, S M; Kirshblum, S; Koltenuk, S; Linke, M; Ljungberg, I; Nagy, J; Nicolini, L; Roach, M J; Salles, S; Scelza, W M; Read, M S; Reeves, R K; Scott, M D; Tansey, K E; Theis, J L; Tolfo, C Z; Whitney, M; Williams, C D; Winter, C M; and Zanca, J M, "United States (US) multi-center study to assess the validity and reliability of the Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM III)." (2011). Neuro-Rehabilitation. 7.
https://scholar.barrowneuro.org/neuro-rehabilitation/7