Evaluation of the Functional Mobility Assessment Through Rasch Analysis

Abstract Objective To determine the effectiveness of the Functional Mobility Assessment when measuring an individual’s satisfaction with functional mobility. Design Secondary analysis of cross-sectional self-report data. Setting Assistive technology center within an academic medical center in the Midwestern United States. Participants Individuals with a disability that use, or plan to use a mobility device (N=871). Interventions N/A Main Outcome Measures Functional Mobility Assessment (FMA). Results All FMA items (10/10) contributed to a single unidimensional construct with good to strong fit to a unidimensional confirmatory factor model. Rasch analysis revealed that the rating scale, majority of persons (>90%), and all items fit the Rasch measurement model. The FMA demonstrated adequate reliability (person reliability = 0.85) and separated persons into three strata – those with high, medium, and low satisfaction with functional mobility. Conclusions The FMA is an appropriate measure for use in research and clinical settings to quantify satisfaction with functional mobility among mobility device users.