Rehabilitation Measures Database
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  2. Spinal Cord Injury - Quality of Life Wheelchair Mobility [Spinal Cord Injury – Functional Index]

Spinal Cord Injury - Quality of Life Wheelchair Mobility [Spinal Cord Injury – Functional Index]

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Raw Score to T-Score Conversion Table for Power Wheelchair
Raw Score to T-Score Conversion Table for Manual Wheelchair

Purpose

The SCI-QOL Wheelchair Mobility instrument assesses wheelchair mobility in individuals with spinal cord injury.

Link to Instrument

Acronym SCI-QOL Wheelchair Mobility [SCI-FI]

Area of Assessment

Quality of Life
Seating

Assessment Type

Patient Reported Outcomes

Administration Mode

Computer

Cost

Free

Cost Description

Paper copies of short forms are available. PDFs can be requested through emails to sci-qol@udel.edu and tbi-qol@udel.edu

Electronic versions can be found in the NIH Toolbox or the PROMIS app. Either app is $500/yr, and covers up to 10 iPads on a single license. The SCI-QOL and TBI-QOL CATs can be administered directly through these apps. It is important to note that using the app requires you to be physically with the participant or read the questions aloud by interview over the phone - there is no way to send a link to have someone complete the measures at home.

Free electronic versions are available. If your institution has REDCap, the CATs and short forms can be accessed through the REDCap instrument library by searching for the specific measure you want and adding them to your REDCap project. For non-REDCap alternatives, the SCI-QOL and TBI-QOL short forms can be imported into an alternative electronic administration platform such as Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, etc. Email sci-qol@udel.edu or tbi-qol@udel.edu to request PDF versions.

Diagnosis/Conditions

  • Spinal Cord Injury

Populations

Spinal Injuries

Key Descriptions

  • The SCI-QOL Basic Mobility measure is an item response theory (IRT)-calibrated item bank with 56 items that is available for administration as a computer adaptive test (CAT; range 4-12 items) or 10 item short form (SF).

Number of Items

56

Short: 10

CAT: 4-12

Equipment Required

  • The short form requires the form and a pencil.

Time to Administer

Less than 5 minutes

Required Training

Reading an Article/Manual

Age Ranges

Adults

18 - 64

years

Elderly Adults

65 +

years

Instrument Reviewers

Review completed by Kelsey Stipp, M.S. and Kristian Nitsch, M.S.

ICF Domain

Activity

Measurement Domain

Motor

Considerations

Do you see an error or have a suggestion for this instrument summary? Please e-mail us!

Spinal Injuries

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Standard Error of Measurement (SEM)

Depends on mode of administration and injury type:

Manual Wheelchair

  • 10-item short form for Tetraplegia: SEM= 2.12
  • 10-item short form for Paraplegia: SEM= 1.70

 

Power Wheelchair

  • 10-item short form for Tetraplegia: SEM= 1.00
  • 10-item short form for Paraplegia: SEM= 0.80

Minimal Detectable Change (MDC)

Calculated from SEM:

Manual Wheelchair

  • 10-item short form for Tetraplegia: MDC= 5.87
  • 10-item short form for Paraplegia: MDC= 4.70

 

Power Wheelchair

  • 10-item short form for Tetraplegia: MDC= 2.77
  • 10-item short form for Paraplegia: MDC= 2.22

Cut-Off Scores

Traumatic SCI:

 

Power Wheelchair

  • ≤15: Few basic wheelchair activities
  • 16-40: Some wheelchair activities
  • 41-52: All wheelchair activities
  • 53-63: No difficulty with any activities
  • ≥64: Not Applicable

 

Manual Wheelchair

  • ≤15: No wheelchair activities
  • 16-40: Unable to do most wheelchair activities
  • 41-52: Some basic wheelchair activities
  • 53-63: Most wheelchair activities
  • ≥64: All wheelchair activities

Sinha et al. (2015)

Normative Data

Traumatic SCI: The normative data are calibrated on adults with traumatic spinal cord injury. The mean score (T = 50) indicates a score that is normal for an adult with a traumatic SCI. (Sinha et al., 2015; n = 855, mean age = 43.1 years (15.3); time post injury = 6.8 years (9.3); 54% paraplegia, 46% tetraplegia)

Test/Retest Reliability

Traumatic SCI: (Heinemann et al., 2014; n = 855)

 

Manual Wheelchair

  • Excellent: (ICC = 0.98 for tetraplegia; ICC = 0.97 for paraplegia)

 

Power Wheelchair

  • Excellent: (ICC = 0.99 for tetraplegia and paraplegia)

Criterion Validity (Predictive/Concurrent)

Traumatic SCI: (Sinha et al., 2015; n = 269; mean age = 43.8 years (15.5); time post injury = 6.8 (8.7); 46.5% paraplegia; 52.4% tetraplegia)

Adequate concurrent validity with:

  • Functional Index Measure: ρ = 0.644

Floor/Ceiling Effects

Traumatic SCI: (Heinemann et al., 2014)

 

Manual Wheelchair

  • Floor Effect: Adequate (3% for tetraplegia) Excellent (0% for paraplegia)
  • Ceiling Effect: Adequate (1% for tetraplegia; 2% for paraplegia)

 

Power Wheelchair

  • Floor Effect: Adequate (1% for tetraplegia and paraplegia)
  • Ceiling Effect: Adequate (3% for tetraplegia; 21% for paraplegia)

Bibliography

Jette, A. M., Slavin, M. D., Ni, P., Kisala, P. A., Tulsky, D. S., Heinemann, A. W., Charlifue, S., Tate, D. G., Fyffe, D., Morse, L., Marino, M., Smith, I., & Williams, S. (2015) Development and initial evaluation of the SCI-FI/AT. Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 38(3), 409-418

Sinha, R., Slavin, M. D., Kisala, P. A., Ni, P., Tulsky, D. S., & Jette, A. M. (2015) Functional ability level development and validation: Providing clinical meaning for spinal cord injury functional index scores. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 96, 1448-57

Heinemann, A. W., Dijkers, M. P., Ni, P., Tulsky, D. S., & Jette, A. (2014) Measurement Properties of the Spinal Cord Injury-Functional Index (SCI-FI) Short Forms. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 95(7), 1289-97

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