An Evaluation of the Reliability and Validity of the Functional Assessment Inventory

Abstract

The reliability of the Functional Assessment Inventory (FAI) was evaluated using a sample of VA domiciliary and nursing home patients. The interobserver and interrater reliability coefficients of the summary rating scales, based on a single assessment, tended to be higher than their test-retest reliability coefficients, based on two independent assessments separated by a modal four-week interval. Validity coefficients, using the OARS instrument ratings as criteria, also based on two independent assessments several weeks apart, were, on the average, as high as the test-retest reliability coefficients. More specifically, the mental health, physical health, and activities of daily living rating scales, along with the objectively scored Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire and Short Psychiatric Evaluation Schedule, tended to yield relatively similar scores with repeated measurement, while the social resources and economic resources scales were somewhat less stable, a discrepancy possibly explained by the homogeneous nature of the social and economic status of most of the patients (institutionalized veterans). Thus the reliability and validity of the FAI are satisfactory, but the stability of some of its scales requires further investigation.

Use of a Structured Functional Assessment Format in a Geriatric Consultative Service

“…However, this approach may prove prohibitively costly in terms of man‐hours. Our study was designed to explore the extent to which an initial screening could be performed by a single individual, using assessment techniques with proved reliability that have been developed and validated previously in the context of the multidisciplinary assessment process 10 – 12 …”

Inpatient Community‐Based Geriatric Assessment Reduces Subsequent Mortality

“…A standard proprietary instrument, the Functional Assessment Inventory, was used to evaluate each patient 14 . Previous studies validated this instrument 15 . In addition to the Functional Assessment Inventory, the Katz Functional Activity Rating Scale (ADL) was used to assess functional status 16…”

A Study on Functioning for Independent Living among the Elderly in the Community

“…The section on impairment level included five areas: social resources, economic resources, mental health, physical health, and activities of daily living (ADL). Although the scale had been tested for validity and reliability, the sample size was too small and the implication was too complicated (Cairl, et al, 1983;Robinson, Lund, Keller, & Cuervo, 1986). Champlin (1985), Dunlap and Sands (1987), Gulick (1987), and Poulton (1984) also developed the scales; however, their subjects were limited to hospitalized patients.…”