Validity and reliability of the movement ability measure: a self-report instrument proposed for assessing movement across diagnoses and ability levels.
OBJECTIVE
Physical therapists lack instruments that assess movement across diagnoses and ability levels while focusing on physical therapy-specific outcomes. This article describes the creation of a Movement Ability Measure (MAM) and initial evidence of validity and reliability.


METHODS
More than 300 adult volunteers with various movement levels completed the 24-item questionnaire.


METHODS
Item response theory methods were used to create the MAM and gather evidence of content and construct validity, test-retest and other types of reliability, and concurrent validity with the California Functional Evaluation instrument and self-acknowledgement of movement problems.


RESULTS
The intraclass correlation coefficient for test-retest reliability was .92. Person separation reliability was .98. Correlation (r) with the California Functional Evaluation instrument was .76. Respondents who denied having movement problems perceived a significantly higher level of movement ability than those who claimed to have a little, some, or a lot of movement problems in the preceding week.


CONCLUSIONS
The MAM shows promise for documenting perceived movement ability across ability levels and diagnoses.
Allen
Diane D
DD
Department of Physical Therapy, Samuel Merritt College, Oakland, California, USA. allendianed@gmail.com
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement; D010809:Physical Fitness; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012650:Self Disclosure; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires