Concurrent Validity and Reliability of the Transfer Assessment Instrument Questionnaire as a Self-Assessment Measure.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Transfer Assessment Instrument Questionnaire (TAI-Q), a self-assessment measure to evaluate transfer quality compared with clinician-reported measures.

DESIGN

Participants self-assessed transfers from their wheelchair to a mat table using the TAI-Q. For session 1, participants self-assessed their transfer both before and after reviewing a video of themselves completing the transfer (session 1). Self-assessment was completed for another transfer after a 10-minute delay (session 2, intrarater reliability) and after a 1- to 2-day delay (session 3, test-retest reliability). Self-assessment was compared with a criterion standard of an experienced clinician scoring the same transfers with the Transfer Assessment Instrument (TAI) version 4.0 (concurrent validity).

SETTING

2017 National Veterans Wheelchair Games.

PARTICIPANTS

Convenience sample of full-time wheelchair users (N=44).

INTERVENTIONS

Not applicable.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

TAI-Q and TAI.

RESULTS

After video review of their transfer, acceptable levels of reliability were demonstrated for total TAI-Q score for intrarater (intraclass correlation [ICC], 0.627) and test-retest reliability (ICC, 0.705). Moderate to acceptable concurrent validity was demonstrated with the TAI (ICC, 0.554-0.740). Participants tended to underestimate the quality of their transfer (reported more deficient items) compared with the TAI. However, this deficit decreased and reliability improved from pre-video review to post-video review and from session 1 to session 2. The minimum detectable change indicated that a change of 1.63 to 2.21 in the TAI-Q total score is needed to detect a significant difference in transfer skills.

CONCLUSIONS

When paired with video review, the TAI-Q demonstrates moderate to acceptable levels of reliability and validity for the total score. Self-assessment was completed quickly (<5min) and could help to potentially screen for deficiencies in transfer quality and opportunities for intervention.