Enhancement and Evaluation of the SCI-CAT2 Instrument – Lead Center: New England Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center

PI: Daniel Lammertse, MD, Susan Charlifue, PhD
Funded by: National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research
Grant Number: H133N110006
Dates: 2011-2016
Contact: Susan Charlifue – Susie@craighospital.org 303 789 8306

Specific Aim #1: Refine and augment the SCI-CAT1 existing item pools to capture functional performance involving the full range of AT and human assistance

The original SCI-CAT1 ambulation, fine motor, and self care item pools primarily assess an individual’s capacity to perform tasks without assistive technology (AT), providing an important assessment of functional capacity. Under this aim we will replenish and extend the comprehensiveness of the existing item pools with new items written for relevant SCI-CAT sub-domains that will capture the performance of functional tasks using AT and human assistance.

Specific Aim #2: Evaluate SCI-CAT2 scales’ psychometric properties in comparison to the FIM

The refinement and replenishment of the SCI-CAT2 item pools with AT oriented functional tasks is designed to maximize the SCI-CAT2’s clinical and research utility. In this second aim we will evaluate the degree to which this has been achieved by launching a prospective study that administers the refined SCI-CAT2 scales to 200 newly injured adults with SCI enrolled in the SCI National Database. An experimental module consisting of the 5 SCI-CAT2 scales will be administered to this sample at the point of discharge from inpatient rehabilitation care and 12 months later. We will compare FIM scores administered at these same two time points with SCI-CAT2 functional scores to assess relative breadth of measurement, precision, and sensitivity to change.