title: The Edmonton Functional Assessment Tool: further development and validation for use in palliative care.
abstract: The objective of this study was to examine the validity of the revised version of the Edmonton Functional Assessment Tool (EFAT-2), which was designed to measure physical impairment and functional performance of patients in palliative care. The EFAT-2 was administered to 275 patients on admission to an acute palliative care unit. Principal-components factor analysis was performed on the 10 items of the scale, and Cronbach's alpha was calculated to measure internal consistency. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out to compare the admission EFAT-2 scores of three groups of patients: (a) deceased on the unit, (b) transferred to a continuing care palliative unit, (c) discharged home. Two main factors were revealed: physical and non-physical (cognitive/affective). Pain was identified as an independent item and did not correlate with any other item. Cronbach's alpha was 0.86. The ANOVA was significant (F [2,267] 29.063, p < 0.001). The results suggest that the EFAT-2 measures one construct. They also suggest that the EFAT-2 is able to discriminate between palliative care patients based on discharge location.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Cross Cancer Institute, Edmonton.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kaasa
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wessel
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003071:Cognition; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010351:Patient Discharge; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D012046:Rehabilitation / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology / Q000592:standards