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Interrater reliability of the Functional Assessment Measure in a brain injury rehabilitation program
Objective:
To examine the interrater reliability and completion time of the Functional Assessment Measure, which is the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) plus additional items (FIM+FAM).
Design:
Interrater reliability study.
Setting:
Inpatient rehabilitation units of a postacute care brain injury rehabilitation program.
Patients:
A convenience sample of 53 extremely severely impaired adult survivors of traumatic brain injuries (40 men, 13 women, mean age 38yrs).
Main Outcome Measures:
Treatment team members' ratings of the 30 FIM +FAM items, and time taken to complete the FIM+FAM.
Results:
Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICCs) were within the good to excellent range (ICC > .60) for 29 of 30 items and for all subscales except psychosocial adjustment. Higher mean ICC values were obtained for motor domain items than for cognitive/psychosocial domain items. Treatment teams became progressively faster over a 12-week period in completing the FIM+FAM. The generally good to excellent range interrater reliability found in this study helps support the use of the FIM+FAM in rehabilitation settings. Further support was obtained for the finding that motor items are more reliable than cognitive and psychosocial items. Administration of the FIM+FAM can be done in a timely manner in a rehabilitation setting.