Finding functionality: Rasch analysis of the Functionality Appreciation Scale in community-dwelling adults in the US.
Sarah Feng, Sydney McDaniel, Ann Van de Winckel
PMID 37849959WHAT IT FOUND
The Functionality Appreciation Scale measures one single trait, but it is too easy for most healthy adults.
Many score the maximum, so the test cannot tell the difference between someone with high appreciation and someone with moderate appreciation.
Key findings
01The scale measures a single construct, but it fails to differentiate between people with high functionality appreciation because the items are too easy for the general population.
02A modified six-item version was created by rescoring three items and removing one, which maintained good structural validity but still showed poor targeting for community adults.
03People who currently practice body awareness training scored significantly higher on the scale than those who do not.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The sample was mostly White (89%) and recruited from specific locations in Minnesota, so the results may not apply to more diverse populations. The study only included 14 people with spinal cord injury, which is too few to draw conclusions about clinical populations. The scale was too easy for the participants, meaning it failed to measure the upper range of functionality appreciation. One item in the modified scale still did not fit the statistical model well, but it was kept because removing it made the whole scale less reliable.
Declared interests
The research was supported by a National Institutes of Health grant. The funding agency had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, or writing.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume the scale is a good measure of functionality appreciation for all adults. It is too easy for healthy people, so a high score might just mean the test was not hard enough to challenge them, not that they have exceptional appreciation of their body.