Measuring function in young children with impairments.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the psychometric properties of a new functional assessment tool, the WeeFIM 0-3 instrument, intended to measure function in young children with physical, cognitive, or developmental impairments from birth to 3 years of age. Specific aims were to determine whether differences exist in WeeFIM 0-3 ratings in children with impairments as compared with those without, controlling for age and gender, and to determine the internal consistency, validity, and hierarchical properties of the instrument.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study of 173 children with impairments and 354 without impairments.


RESULTS
Controlling for age, children without impairments had significantly higher mean WeeFIM 0-3 ratings than children with impairments. There were no differences in mean ratings by gender. The instrument displayed high internal consistency, construct, and predictive validity; maintained a hierarchy of item difficulty; and discriminant properties.


CONCLUSIONS
Further reliability studies are needed to determine the instrument sensitivity and ability to detect change over time.
Niewczyk
Paulette M
PM
Department of Rehabilitative Medicine, Center for Functional Assessment Research, and Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, USA. pniewczyk@udsmr.org
Granger
Carl V
CV
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000503:physiopathology; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D019988:Children with Disabilities; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009048:Motor Skills; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results