Abstract
The Spinal Cord Injury–Functional Index (SCI-FI) is a system of patient-reported outcome
measures of functional activities developed specifically with and for individuals
with spinal cord injury (SCI). The SCI-FI was designed to overcome limitations in
measurement of the full range of activities and breadth of content of physical functioning
commonly used in SCI research. Generic measurement tools of physical function (ie,
those focused on the general population) tend to overemphasize mobility and do not
contain enough items at the lower end of the functional range (eg, items appropriate
for individuals with tetraplegia). The SCI-FI consists of 9 item response theory–calibrated
item banks that represent relevant and meaningful item content for individuals with
SCI, span a wide range of functional abilities, and subdivide physical functioning
into important subdomains, including basic mobility, self-care, and fine motor function.
Since the original publication of the SCI-FI in 2012, there have been significant
advances in and publications on the reliability and psychometric properties of the
measures. The manuscripts presented in this special section clarify the SCI-FI structure
and present new research on the SCI-FI measurement system.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
AT (assistive technology), C (capacity), CAT (computer adaptive testing), Pedi-SCI (Pediatric Spinal Cord Injury Activity Measure), PRO (patient-reported outcome), PROMIS (Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System, SCI, spinal cord injury), SCI-FI (Spinal Cord Injury–Functional Index), SCI-FI/AT (Spinal Cord Injury–Functional Index/Assistive Technology), SCI-FI/C (Spinal Cord Injury–Functional Index/Capacity), SCIMS (SCI Model Systems), SCI-QOL (Spinal Cord Injury–Quality of Life)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 27, 2021
Accepted:
October 18,
2021
Received:
October 14,
2021
Footnotes
Disclosures: Dr Tulsky is a co-copyright holder of the SCI-FI measures. The SCI-FI measures are freely available to the public and Dr Tulsky does not receive any royalties from this copyright. Ms. Kisala reports no conflict of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of The American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.
