The Functional Independence Measure (FIM) is widely used to determine the dependency of activity of daily living in rehabilitation patients. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the unidimentionality of the FIM physical items and to analyze the validity of cross-functional levels in stroke survivors in Korea. Thirteen physical items of FIM were rated according to an ordinal scale of a 7-level classification. Two hundred and seventy-nine patients participated in the study (age range 18~92 years and 57% male). Six items-eating, bladder control, bowel control, transfer to and from the bed/wheelchair, transfer to and from the toilet, and bathing-showed misfits with the Rasch model. The most difficult item was 'bathing', the easiest item was 'bowel control'. Although there were several differences within functional levels, the hierarchical order of item measures was rather similar. 'Bathing' was the most difficult in high level patients (above 60), however 'stairs' was most difficult in the middle level (41~60) group. In the low level group (below 40), 'toileting' was the most difficult. In conclusion, the present study has shown several differences of item difficulty among functional levels. This result will be useful in planning interventions, and developing rehabilitation programs for stroke survivors.

The main purposes of this study were to find the correlation between walking ability assessment tools using the Modified Barthel Index (MBI), Functional Independence Measure (FIM), Spinal Cord Injury Measurement II (SCIM II), Walking Index for Spinal Cord Injury (WISCI), walking velocity, and walking endurance. The study population consisted of 56 patients with spinal cord injury referred to the department of Rehabilitative Medicine in the National Rehabilitation Hospital. All subjects were ambulatory with or without an assistive device. All participants were assessed by MBI, FIM, SCIM II, WISCI, walking velocity, and walking endurance. The data were analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis and X2. There was significant correlation between the MBI, FIM, SCIM II, WISCI, walking velocity, and walking endurance (p<.01). In particular, WISCI has a significant correlation with SCIM II(p<.001). Therefore the WISCI scale is an appropriate assessment tool to predict the gait ability of patients with spinal cord injury. Further study about MBI, FIM, SCIM II, WISCI, walking velocity, and walking endurance is needed using a longitudinal study design.

This study aims to compare the relationship between the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) scores, Timed Up & Go (TUG), Functional Independent Measure (FIM), and subject characteristics. All of the 18 subjects were women between the ages of 68 and 91 (mean=80.2, SD=5.43), and they all lived at the nursing home in Wonju. Balance was measured using BBS, and functional mobility was measured using TUG. FIM was used to evaluate functional independence. Data were analyzed using Spearman correlation. Statistically significant differences were noted between BBS and TUG (r=-.486, p<.05). There were no significant statistical differences between total FIM and BBS, TUG. The FIM items "locomotion" and "communication" showed significant statistical differences between BBS and TUG. The results suggest that FIM may be able to predict dangerous falls in elderly people.

The purpose of this study is to validate of 5 scale-MBI as ADL asessment instrument for stroke patients. The subject was 34 patients following CVA on rehabilitation ther- apy in the rehabilitation hospital, Yonsei medical center. They were assessed with FIM, and 5 scale-MBI in a day. There scores were taken statistics through SAS package, so that we have Pearson's R score. The results is following. 1) FIM and 5 scale-MBI scores averaged 86. 21, 62. 32. 2) On Pearson's R score between FIM and 5 scale MBI was 0. 9345(p(0.001). Therefore there was a very high correlation. 3) On Pearson's R score between motorFIM and MBI was 0.8565(p(0.001), between cog- nitive FIM and MBI was 0.4641(p(0.01). There was significant. 4) On Pearson's R score between same category of FIM and MBI - self care, sphincter control, mobility, locomotion - each others was 0.8960, 0.6974, 0.8585, 0.8540 (p(0.001 ) . In conclusion, 5 scale MBI was found to be useful scale to assess the stroke patients.