Article

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the inter-rater reliability of the Early Functional
Abilities (EFA) scale. DESIGN: An observational study of inter-rater reliability
in an open cohort. PATIENTS: Twenty-four patients with traumatic brain injury in
need of medical or surgical intervention in the early rehabilitation section of
the intensive care unit. METHODS: The EFA was assessed by 4 different professions
in the rehabilitation team. Inter-rater reliability was assessed using linear
weighted kappa statistics. RESULTS: The overall weighted kappa values of the
different EFA items varied from 0.27 to 0.60. The items in the sensorimotor
functional area had the highest pairwise agreement,with a mean kappa range of
0.68-0.76. The vegetativest ability, position tolerance and wakefulness items had
the lowest mean kappa values (0.49, 0.33 and 0.49, respectively). Agreement was
good to excellent between the occupational therapist and physiotherapist across
the majority of the items, whereas the physician and nurse agreed less with one
another. CONCLUSION: The inter-rater reliability of the EFA scale was good for
most items among all the raters. The scale maybe used by all members of the
interdisciplinary team after training in administration and scoring. A reduction
in the number of items in the vegetative functional domain is recommended.

Langue : ANGLAIS