Inter-observer reliability of trained physiotherapists on the Functional Status Score for the Intensive Care Unit Chilean-Spanish version.
Felipe González-Seguel, Agustín Camus-Molina, Marcela Cárcamo and 3 others
PMID 32316800WHAT IT FOUND
Trained physiotherapists scoring the Chilean-Spanish FSS-ICU from video showed excellent agreement with expert reference scores.
Disagreements between raters were small enough to fall within the scale's known margin for meaningful change, suggesting the tool is reliable for use in Spanish-speaking ICUs.
Key findings
01The total FSS-ICU score showed excellent inter-observer reliability, with an Intraclass Correlation Coefficient of 0.96.
02Disagreement between the 12 trained physiotherapists and the expert reference rater averaged 0.6 points, with most differences falling within the 2 to 5 point range considered clinically meaningful.
03All five individual mobility tasks, including walking, demonstrated good to excellent reliability with ICC values above 0.75.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study was conducted at a single center, so results may not generalize to other hospitals or countries. Reliability was tested on only six patients, though these patients were selected to represent a range of strength levels. Physiotherapists scored video recordings rather than evaluating patients in person, which may differ from real-world clinical interactions. All participants had prior experience using the FSS-ICU, though they had not received formal training before the study's intervention.
Declared interests
The authors declare that they do not have conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this reliability applies to untrained clinicians or to in-person assessments. The high agreement was achieved only after specific standardized training and was measured using video recordings, which remove some of the complexities of live patient interaction.