The Frenchay Activities Index. Assessment of functional status in stroke patients.

Abstract

Assessment of functional status in stroke patients is of major importance in both clinical practice and outcome studies. The Frenchay Activities Index has been developed specifically for measuring disability and handicap in stroke patients. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the metric properties of this instrument and to obtain normal values in a group of unselected elderly subjects. The Frenchay Activities Index was tested in a group of stroke patients and a group of unselected subjects aged 65 or older. The functional status of the stroke patients was measured 26 weeks after stroke. Their prestroke status was registered retrospectively. Reliability and validity of the instrument were assessed. The mean scores in the prestroke, poststroke, and control group demonstrated differences in functional status. The reliability of unweighted scores (range of Cronbach's alpha-coefficients, 0.78 to 0.87) was sufficient. The construct validity was supported by meaningful correlations between the Frenchay Activities Index and scores on the Barthel Index and Sickness Impact Profile. Principal-components analysis indicated that the Frenchay Activities Index showed two traits: instrumental disability and some aspects of handicap. The reliability of the instrument could be improved by deleting two items and by creating two subscale scores: domestic and outdoors activities. The Frenchay Activities Index is a useful stroke-specific instrument to assess functional status. Completion of the questionnaire is easy and takes only a few minutes. Currently, the instrument is suitable for use in patient care and cross-sectional, descriptive studies.

Comparisons of Plantar Pressure Distributions between the Dominant and Non-dominant Sides of Older Women during Walking

“…A description of the purpose and method of this study was provided to all the participants and the experiments were conducted after they had read and signed an informed consent form. The study inclusion criteria were a Frenchay Instrumental Activities of Daily Living score 17) of > 36, a Physical Function score 18) of > 20, and a Berg Functional Balance Scale score 19) of > 44 and a history of falls. By self-report, all participants had experienced one or more falls in the previous year.…”

Caracterização e análise do estado mental e funcional de idosos institucionalizados em instituições públicas de longa permanência

“…Segundo Schuling et al (1993), a atividade funcional compreende a habilidade de a pessoa desempenhar tarefas no dia-a-dia, incluindo aspectos físicos, psicológicos e sociais. Essas atividades revelam a capacidade de a pessoa cuidar de si mesma, executar seus papéis e suas tarefas bá-sicas e sociais.…”

Validation of the Frenchay activity index on stroke victims

“…This evaluation focuses on domestic activities, work/leisure and outdoor activities. It is described as a fast, easy-to-use, reliable and sensitive instrument to measure functionality before and after the stroke, but it is not yet validated in Brazil 8,9,10 . Moreover, an association between the FAI and stroke severity on admission, has not been documented.…”

“…Their use as a functional predictor in the acute phase after stroke, however, is inadequate 22,23 . Neverthless, because the FAI assesses the frequency with which instrumental activities are conducted in the recent past, it may be used in the acute phase as a predictor of stroke severity or functional outcome after stroke 8 .…”