Evaluation of the mos SF-36 physical functioning scale (PF-10): I. Unidimensionality and reproducibility of the Rasch Item scale

doi:10.1016/0895-4356(94)90215-1

Journal of Clinical Epidemiology

Volume 47, Issue 6, June 1994, Pages 671-684

https://doi.org/10.1016/0895-4356(94)90215-1 Get rights and content

Abstract

Indexes developed to measure physical functioning as an essential component of general health status are often based on sets of hierarchically-structured items intended to represent a broad underlying concept. Rasch Item Response Theory (IRT) provides a methodology to examine the hierarchical structure, unidimensionality, and reproducibility of item positions (calibrations) along a scale. Data gathered on the 10-item Physical Functioning Scale (PF-10) from a large sample of Medical Outcomes Study patients (N = 3445) were used to examine the hierarchical order, unidimensionality, and reproducibility of item calibrations. Rasch-IRT analyses generated an empirical item hierarchy, confirmed the unidimensionality of the PF-10 for most patients, and established the reproducibility of item calibrations across patient populations and repeated tests. These findings support the content validity of the PF-10 as a measure of physical functioning and suggest that valid Rasch-IRT summary scores could be generated as an alternative to the current Likert summative scores. Unidimensionality and reproducibility of the item scale are essential prerequisites for the development of Rasch-based person measures of physical functioning that can be used across populations and over repeated tests.

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Original articleEvaluation of the mos SF-36 physical functioning scale (PF-10): I. Unidimensionality and reproducibility of the Rasch Item scale

Abstract

Am J Cardiol

J Clin Epidemiol

J Chron Dis

Disability in America: Toward a National Agenda for Prevention

Functional limitation and disability among elders in the Framingham study

Am J Public Health

The MOS 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36): II. psychometric and clinical tests of validity in measuring physical and mental health constructs

Med Care

Methods for measuring levels of well-being for a health status index

Health Serv Res

The Sickness Impact Profile: development and final revision of a health status measure

Med Care

The Duke-UNC Health Profile: an adult health status instrument for primary care

Med Care

Measuring health status: a new tool for clinicians and epidemiologists

J R Coll Gen Pract

The McMaster Health Index Questionnaire: an update

The MOS ShortForm General Health Survey: reliability and validity in a patient population

Med Care

The Duke Health Profile: a 17 item measure of health and dysfunction

Med Care

The MOS 36-item ShortForm Health Survey (SF-36): I. conceptual framework and item selection

Med Care

Fuctional evaluation: the Barthel Index. MD State

Med J

Progress in development of the Index of ADL

Gerontologist

The Revised Kenny Self-care Evaluation: a Numerical Measure of Independence in Activities of Daily Living

Functional performance assessment: a program approach

Arch Phys Med Rehabil

Functional Status Index: reliability of a chronic disease evaluation instrument

Arch Phys Med Rehabil

The AIMS approach to health status measurement: conceptual background and measurement properties

J Rheumatol

The validity and relative precision of MOS shortand long-form health status scales and Dartmouth COOP charts: results from the Medical Outcomes Study

Med Care

The MOS 36-item, Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36): III. tests of data quality, scaling assumptions, and re liability across diverse patient groups

Med Care

Fundamentals of Item Response Theory

Psychometric Theory

Original article
Evaluation of the mos SF-36 physical functioning scale (PF-10): I. Unidimensionality and reproducibility of the Rasch Item scale