Turkish adaptation of Spinal Cord Independence Measure — version III

Abstract

Various rating scales have been used to assess ability in individuals with spinal cord injury. There is no specific functional assessment scale for Turkish patients with spinal cord injury. The Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM) is a specific test, which has become popular in the last decade. A study was conducted to validate and evaluate the Turkish adaptation of the SCIM III (T-SCIM III). The SCIM III was translated into Turkish. Reliability, (internal consistency, interrater reliability, and test-retest reliability), validity (with Functional Independence Measurement), and sensitivity (changes in 8-week exercise program) were studied. Internal consistency for total score was sufficient (Cronbach α=0.79). The interrater reliability was moderate to high (Cohen κ between 0.72 and 1). Convergent validity was high (r=0.89, P<0.01). The T-SCIM III was found to be more sensitive than the Functional Independence Measurement to changes in function. Hence, we recommend the use of T-SCIM III in clinical practice as a reliable, valid, and easy-to-use tool.

Validity and reliability study of the Turkish version of Spinal Cord Independence Measure-III

“…The mentioned Study of the Turkish version of SCIM-III H Unalan et al study found SCIM-III to be sensitive to the SCI patient characteristics. 7 In the present study, we included more patients (n = 204) and preferred a different outcome scale. Nevertheless, we believe that more studies would render SCIM-III a test with more validity and reliability leading to more practical fields for its use, and more validation studies would yield more positive results, making SCIM-III a more valuable measurement tool.…”

“…15 Versions of the SCIM have been shown to be valid and reliable in multicenter studies with satisfying psychometric properties. [3][4][5][6][7][8] Comparatively, the SCIM-III represents the most sensitive, reliable and valid measurement of global disability for individuals with SCI. 1,4,[12][13][14] The ISNCSCI (International Standards for Neurological Classification of SCI) has endorsed a standardized neurological examination as the most accurate way to document impairment in a person with an SCI.…”

“…2 As a result, SCIM-III has been translated into various languages with subsequent validity and reliability assessment studies. [3][4][5][6][7][8] We designed this prospective multicenter study to investigate the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of SCIM-III.…”

Translation into Greek and initial validity and reliability testing of a modified version of the SCIM III, in both English and Greek, for self-use

“…However, the same item did not pass the acceptance level for the Italian version of SCIM III [41] or for the English version, when examined in the UK population [42] when the scale was not completed by selfreport but was administered by observation. In the original SCIM III study [43] and the Turkish version [44], Cronbach's a was lower for this particular item but just above the accepted level. This finding may indicate some difficulties with the wording of this item and simplification is needed.…”

“…Validity was examined by comparing concurrent/criterion validity with part of the EQ-5D and not the FIM, as done in previous studies [41,43,44]. For both versions, the correlation between the two scales on the self-care subscales was strong though not as strong as for the other studies when the FIM was used for comparison [41,43,44].…”