Article

OBJECTIVES: To describe the development and evaluate the reliability and validity
of a newly created outcome measure, the Transfer Assessment Instrument (TAI), to
assess the quality of transfers performed by full-time wheelchair users. DESIGN:
Repeated measures. SETTING: 2009 National Veterans Wheelchair Games in Spokane,
WA. PARTICIPANTS: A convenience sample of full-time wheelchair users (N=40) who
perform sitting pivot or standing pivot transfers. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for reliability
and Spearman correlation coefficients for concurrent validity between the TAI and
a global assessment scale (0-100 visual analog scale [VAS]). RESULTS: No adverse
events occurred during testing. Intrarater ICCs for 3 raters ranged between .35
and .89, and the interrater ICC was .642. Correlations between the TAI and a
global assessment VAS ranged between .19 (P=.285) and .69 (P>.000). Item analyses
of the tool found a wide range of results, from weak to good reliability.
Evaluators found the TAI to be safe and able to be completed in a short time.
CONCLUSIONS: The TAI is a safe, quick outcome measure that uses equipment
typically found in a clinical setting and does not ask participants to perform
new skills. Reliability and validity testing found the TAI to have acceptable
interrater and a wide range of intrarater reliability. Future work indicates the
need for continued refinement including removal or modification of items found to
have low reliability, improved education for clinicians, and further reliability
and validity analysis with a more diverse subject population. The TAI has the
potential to fill a void in assessment of transfers.
CI - Copyright (c) 2011 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS