Article
Validity of the functional independence measure for persons with traumatic brain injury☆,☆☆

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-9993(97)90195-7Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective: Replicate and extend studies of the construct validity of the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) for persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Design: A cross-sectional study of admissions to acute rehabilitation evaluated 6 months to 5 years after discharge.

Setting: An inpatient brain injury rehabilitation unit in a large, academic medical center.

Subjects: Ninety-five patients with primary diagnosis of TBI stratified by time postdischarge.

Main Outcome Measures: Prediction of (1) average daily minutes of assistance and (2) supervision required in comparison to the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP) and SF-36.

Results: The FIM was highly predictive of minutes of assistance (83% accuracy), supervision (82% accuracy), and the need for either type of assistance (78% accuracy). Prediction was only minimally improved by measures of neurobehavioral impairment. The accuracy of the FIM was superior to the SIP and SF-36.

Conclusions: Results provided substantial support for the validity of the FIM as a measure of functional independence for persons with TBI. The importance of supervision as a type of assistance required after TBI was evident, with the FIM highly predictive of this need, as well.

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Supported in part by grant H133B30041 from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research to the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Functional Assessment and Evaluation of Rehabilitation Outcomes, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo, and by grant H235L20001 from the Rehabilitation Services Administration to the Ohio Valley Center for Brain Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, The Ohio State University.

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No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors or upon any organization with which the authors are associated.

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Copyright © 1997 Published by Elsevier Inc.