Developing a Facilitators Scale in the Context of Travel: ReTRIP.
Shu Cole, Dubravka Svetina Valdivia
PMID 33543071WHAT IT FOUND
A new scale for people with spinal cord injury separates travel barriers into two distinct types: what the industry provides (accessibility, staff help) and what the individual brings (planning, problem-solving).
These two factors are weakly linked, meaning you should assess them separately rather than combining them into a single score.
Key findings
01The scale identifies two distinct dimensions of travel facilitators: industry-oriented (e.g., accessible information, staff accommodation) and self-oriented (e.g., planning, problem-solving), with a weak correlation between them.
02The industry-oriented subscale showed better internal consistency (alpha 0.814) than the self-oriented subscale (alpha 0.607), suggesting the latter may need refinement or more items.
03Three items related to technology (smartphone, internet, own vehicle) did not fit well in the scale, possibly because respondents take these tools for granted.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study is a pilot with a relatively small sample size (n=249), which limits the generalizability of the psychometric findings. The self-oriented subscale had lower internal consistency (alpha 0.607), indicating it may not yet be a reliable standalone measure. The scale was developed and tested only in people with spinal cord injury, so it may not be valid for other disabilities. Some response categories (1-3) had very low counts and were collapsed, which may obscure subtle differences in how helpful patients find certain factors.
Declared interests
Funding was provided by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). The authors declared no other conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use the self-oriented subscale as a reliable measure of patient capability yet, as its internal consistency was low (alpha 0.607). The scale is a promising pilot tool, not a validated standard for clinical decision-making.