Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric testing of the Thai version of the Spinal Cord Independence Measure III-Self Report.

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional reliability and validation study.

OBJECTIVE

To translate and assess the psychometric properties of the Thai version of the Spinal Cord Independence Measure III-Self Report (TH-SCIM-SR) in Thai spinal cord injury (SCI) patients.

SETTING

Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University.

METHODS

A cross-cultural forward and backward translation of the original Spinal Cord Independence Measure III-Self Report (SCIM-SR) was performed at the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Thailand, to create the TH-SCIM-SR. The inclusion criteria were Thai patients with SCI duration of ≥3 months. Patients were evaluated by a team of healthcare professionals using the Thai version of the Spinal Cord Independence Measure Version III (TH-SCIM III). Study patients subsequently completed the TH-SCIM-SR two times with a 3-day interval between evaluations. Cronbach's Alpha, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were used to examine internal consistency, concurrent validity, and reliability, respectively. Bland-Altman plot was used to compare scoring results between the TH-SCIM III and the TH-SCIM-SR.

RESULTS

Thirty-two patients were included. Cronbach's alpha of total score, self-care subscale, respiration/sphincter management, and mobility subscale were 0.91, 0.94, 0.75, and 0.90, respectively. The reliability analysis showed good reliability. The test-retest ICC of total score, self-care subscale, respiration/sphincter management, and mobility subscale were 0.95, 0.95, 0.78, and 0.96, respectively. Regarding construct validity, the subscales of TH-SCIM-SR demonstrated a strong correlation with those of the TH-SCIM III (0.85-0.96).

CONCLUSIONS

TH-SCIM-SR showed good reliability and validity for assessing functional independence in Thai patients with SCI.