The high-level mobility assessment tool (HiMAT) for traumatic brain injury. Part 1: Item generation.
OBJECTIVE
To generate a comprehensive list of items for a scale suitable for assessing high-level mobility in people with traumatic brain injury (TBI).


METHODS
High-level mobility items were generated following a critical evaluation of existing adult and paediatric mobility scales and by surveying expert clinicians for opinions about items appropriate for inclusion on a high-level mobility scale.


RESULTS
The critical evaluation identified 18 different items from 31 mobility scales. These included nine walking items in addition to higher level activities such as stair use, running, jumping and hopping. Expert clinicians generated 157 items that were collated and condensed to 88 items for ranking on a questionnaire. Fifteen items on the questionnaire were rated as very important by 80% of the expert clinicians. These included walking forwards, walking on slopes and different surfaces, changing direction, walking long distances and stair use. Running items included forwards, backwards, on slopes and over different surfaces, changing direction, stopping and starting as well as running long distances. Balancing in single limb stance was also included.


CONCLUSIONS
The final list comprised walking, running, hopping, skipping, jumping and balance items. This initial version of the HiMAT has face and content validity although requires further testing to investigate whether it is uni-dimensional and valid for people with TBI.
Williams
G
G
Epworth Hospital, Victoria, and The University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. gavinw@epworth.org.au
Robertson
V
V
Greenwood
K
K
Goldie
P
P
Morris
M E
ME
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002648:Child; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D009068:Movement; D004856:Postural Balance; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012420:Running; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016138:Walking