Development of a French-Canadian version of the Life-Space Assessment (LSA-F): content validity, reliability and applicability for power mobility device users.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the measurement properties of the French-Canadian version of the Life-Space Assessment questionnaire (LSA-F) for power mobility device (PMD) users.


METHODS
Content validity, test-retest reliability of telephone interviews (2-week interval) and applicability were examined with PMD users presenting neurological, orthopedic or medically complex conditions. Translation/back-translation from English to French and cultural adaptation was performed and pretested with five bilingual users. Test-retest reliability was examined with 40 French-speaking users, age 50 and over, who had been using a subsidized PMD for 2-15 months. Audio-taped interviews were coded to judge content validity and applicability.


RESULTS
Content validity results confirmed equivalent meaning for most questions. The test-retest reliability was excellent for the composite score (intra-class correlation coefficient = 0.87) and revealed moderate to substantial concordance for 18/20 items (k = 0.47-0.73; P(a) > 57.5%). The applicability of the LSA-F is satisfactory considering an acceptable burden of assessment, low refusal of the telephone interview format (8%; n = 4), reasonable administration time (9.2 +/- 3.9 min) and a normally distributed composite score.


CONCLUSIONS
The LSA-F is a valid measure with regards to its content, stable over a period of 2 weeks and applicable for a population of middle-aged and older French-Canadian speaking adults who use PMDs.
Auger
Claudine
C
School of Rehabilitation, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada. claudine.auger@umontreal.ca
Demers
Louise
L
Gélinas
Isabelle
I
Routhier
François
F
Jutai
Jeffrey
J
Guérette
Chantal
C
Deruyter
Frank
F
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002170:Canada; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012656:Self-Help Devices; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014175:Translating