A multi-center international study on the spinal cord independence measure, version IV: Rasch psychometric validation

Translation and validation of the Chinese self-report version of Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM-SR): Rasch psychometric analysis and online application

“…For the original SCIM III, the mean item fit index was 0.92, 0.79 and 0.94 for subscale Selfcare, subscale RS, and subscale Mobility, respectively [6] . Meanwhile, reliability index of the original SCIM IV was 0.9, 0.8, 0.9 for subscale Selfcare, subscale RS, and subscale Mobility, separately [12] . One possible reason is that items in this subscale focused on different aspects of functioning such as respiration, bladder management and bowel routine, making it less suitable for Rasch analysis.…”

“…The basic idea is to include items that vary sufficiently in difficulty so that the scale score will be sensitive enough to distinguish a wide range of ability levels. As the functioning performance varies so much in SCI individuals, it is necessary to evaluate the validity of SCIM in a new language using Rasch model, as the original versions have already do [6] , [12] .…”

“…As an outcome measure of functioning specifically designed for spinal cord injury (SCI) patients, the Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM) has been developed [3] and updated for several times [4] . The 3rd and 4th versions, SCIM III & IV, have been proved to be valid and reliable for traumatic/non-traumatic SCI in both adults and youth [5] , [6] , [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] , [11] , [12] . Based on these evidences, SCIM has been implemented worldwide as the essential functional recovery outcome measure for SCI [13] , [14] .…”

Revisiting functioning recovery in persons with spinal cord injury undergoing first rehabilitation: Trajectory and network analysis of a Swiss cohort study

“…In our study, the SCIM III was used to operationalize functioning because it is widely used in clinical practice. However, although previous Rasch analyses of different versions of the SCIM exist [43][44][45], it was originally developed without Rasch analysis [46]. In addition, due to the qualitative development of functioning after complete or incomplete SCI concerning bladder function for example, the response categories of the SCIM III are not strictly ordinal for some items, but rather categorical.…”

“…Finally, it is prone to floor and ceiling effects [44,47], making the interpretation of very high or low functioning trajectories difficult. As some concerns regarding the SCIM III have recently been addressed in the development of the SCIM version IV [45] (e.g., internal consistency, floor effects, wording and scoring of some items), future research needs to examine the consequences for the presented Rasch and trajectory analysis based on this updated version of the SCIM. And ideally, functioning measures and scores other than the SCIM should be considered as alternatives to independently confirm and contrast the trajectory classes identified in this study.…”