Article

OBJECTIVES: To (1) develop a standardized interview for telephone administration,
(2) assess the psychometric properties of this interview format (Disability
Rating Scale-Postacute Interview [DRS-PI]), and (3) identify additional items to
reduce skew. DESIGN: Prospective cohort assessment study. SETTING: Not
applicable. PARTICIPANTS: Participants (N=406; 287 individuals with traumatic
brain injury [TBI], 119 caregivers) in the U.S. TBI Model Systems national
database during 1- to 20-year telephone follow-up. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Original Disability Rating Scale (DRS) and DRS-PI
variations. DRS-PI questions were developed by consensus of the study
investigators; item scores were derived from responses to questions by algorithm.
Unnecessary questions were pruned. RESULTS: The DRS-PI correlated highly with the
original DRS (intraclass correlation, .91) and demonstrated satisfactory
construct validity and internal consistency (person separation/reliability,
2.51/.86; item separation/reliability, 16.72/1.00; Cronbach alpha=.83). Both
versions showed substantial skew. For the original DRS,
42% of scores were 0 or
1; for DRS-PI, 44%. Adding several items to the DRS-PI including actual
employment status further improved its psychometric properties (person
separation/reliability, 3.10/.91; item separation/reliability, 21.42/1.00;
Cronbach alpha=.92) and reduced skew. For the Expanded DRS-PI, 18% of scores were
0 or 1. CONCLUSIONS: The DRS-PI provides an efficient method to ensure
standardized administration of, and correlates highly with, the original DRS. The
addition of several new items including actual employment status mitigates skew
in postacute samples.
CI - Copyright (c) 2012 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS