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The Edmonton Functional Assessment Tool: preliminary development and evaluation for use in palliative care
1Palliative Care Program, Grey Nuns Community Health Centre, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
|January 1, 1997
Summary
The Edmonton Functional Assessment Tool (EFAT) was developed for palliative care patients. This new functional outcome measure shows promise as a reliable and valid clinical tool.
Area of Science:
- Palliative Care Medicine
- Gerontology
- Rehabilitation Medicine
Background:
- Functional outcome measures are crucial in palliative care.
- Existing tools may not fully capture the needs of terminally ill patients.
- The Edmonton Functional Assessment Tool (EFAT) was developed to address this gap.
Purpose of the Study:
- To report the development and psychometric testing of the EFAT.
- To establish the EFAT as a functional outcome measure for palliative care.
- To evaluate the reliability and validity of the EFAT.
Main Methods:
- The EFAT assesses ten key functional activities and a global performance status.
- Interrater reliability and concurrent validity were tested on 25 palliative care inpatients.
- Construct validity was assessed using a larger sample of 101 patients.
Main Results:
- The EFAT demonstrated strong interrater reliability (ICC = 0.88).
- Concurrent validity was supported by strong correlations with the Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) and ECOG performance status.
- The EFAT distinguished between functional status in different patient groups, supporting construct validity.
Conclusions:
- The EFAT shows potential as a useful clinical tool in palliative care.
- Further research and development are warranted.
- The EFAT reliably measures functional status in terminally ill patients.